Translation 2783

291
they
may change their direction of movement abruptly. An alarme. blue
A
whale may attain a speed of 20 knots, it is reckoned that it canot
for more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Calculations
show that at maximum speed a whale 27.5 metres in longth develo -es
up to 500 horse77ower.
Blue whales are not afraid of floating ice,
and are often found in small patches of open water near concentrations
of krill.
External parasites (Pencha and whale lice) are occasionally
found on their bodies,
Various helminthic species are known as
their internal parasites, being found mainly in the intestines.
The diseases of blue whales have been little studied. Various
inflammatory conditions and tumours have been recorded in the pleura,
uterus, lungs, tongue, and mediastinum; there are also records of
diseases of the lungs and heart, cirrhosis of the liver, and
inflammation of the thoracic glands.
Antarctic whaling for this species was begun by a coastal
station in South Georgia in the 1904-05 season, when the fit 11
whales were taken. Luring the 1930's from 14,081 to 29,410 blue -
whales were killed in the Antarctic every season .
The post-war
maximum was reached in the 1946-47 season with a take of 9,192 blue
whales, of which only 527 were taken by the South Georgia coastal
stations. The take fell sharply in subsequent years.
Blue whales were hunted from South African coastal stations
most intensively from 1923 to 1930, when from 727 to 1,744 were
taken every season.
The take of blue Whales (including pygmy blue
whales) off the coasts of Chile, Brazil, and other countries except
South Africa was small.
Data on the take are presented in Appendixes 10, 11, and 14.
A single blue whale yields up to 20 tons of edible oil and
several tons of meat.
The yield from the largest specimens is much
higher. For instance, 50 tons of oil were obtained from a blue whale
33.3 metres in length. The liver, the pancreas, and several endo- 190
crine orans are also used.
Blue whales are the largest and heaviest animals on earth.
'.7'he weights of two feNales 27.1 and 27.2 metres in length were 136.4
and 12 2 tons res7;ectively.
hl the sume ,- of 1971 the number of blue whales (. including
pymy Uue whales) south of 50 0 S uns estimated at about 15,000. .
maintain that speed
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