Translation 2783

..... 255
13-44, 13-75, and 12-5 metres long tti*ei pjhed 39, 916, 40,823, and
37,195 1'19 respectively.
The huntine, of hunnp--back whales has been prohibited until
'1973 inclusive.
In 1971 the number of hump-back whales was estimated at 3,000.
Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Blue whales are distributed very unevenly in the northern
part of the Pacific Ocean; a large proportion of them are concentrated
in the eastern regions.
The blue whales that keep to the Asiatic coasts spend the
winter between 34 °--31° 111 and 24°--23° N (from the southwestern end
of Japan to the island of Taiwan". They begin to migrate in a northeasterly
direction in spring; some of them may remain all summer on
the Pacific side of the coast of Japan. Blue whales are seen at
the Kurile Islands in summer, and off the coast of Kamchatka from
May to October. There is no uniformity of opinion on the -subject
of how far north they go (see Ap,)enciil. 17).
The ?'_merican herd of blue i:rliales spe.ids the winter in the
waters lyin^ mainly
sol2th of -° 1?, from the ?-1a^aaii an Tal anr7,q to the
coast of California. ï'ossibly there are two wintering groups: one
northeast of the Hawaiian Islands, and the other from 160° W -L-o
California, between 23° N and 33° r•ï.
In spring (apparently in March) these whales begin their
northward migration along the American continent, and by May they
have reached Vancouver Island. Thence the main stream-of mit,,;ra.ting
whales continues to flow alon^, the coast, and they spend the summer
in the waters northwest of the CLueen Charlotte Islands, including
the northern part of the Gulf of Alaska as far as Kodiak Island.
Another group of the whales moves west along -the 50th parallel,
comes to the Aleutian chain, and moves southwest along it. Blue
wïjales are usually found in two small areas, mainly restricted to
places of crustacean concentration: between 100 0 and 170 o W and
between 175° and 170° W, north of the 50th parallel. Even there,
hoi-rever,
they do not form large concentrations, and for the most
t7
--art rem=ti r_ sir_E;ly .
^;iove;:,ent towards tue 1,1ii:terin,;--Urounds î^e^.ins ir•. September,
and takes place in genera.J_ alon; the same routes.