Translation 2783

..... 296
last t7:/o l:nonths of C;esta,•t1.on, when it ri,ttai.r'_s
a len,^,,•tn, of about
6.4. _..etres and an avera.;,e wei.-ht of 1,900 The calf is fed for
six or seven mor:tl?s on with a fat content of from 25;..'i;o 40;.:.
l:urinF; that perioc it follorrs its mother persistently (a lactating
;1oars _i_!; has been froia .?,155 to 2,893. _:uriï_.L,,' the _^G:riod. followini
female wit'r.l a calf 10-12 ,netres in length was observed at 68 o S in
early 3'ebruary} .
These whales a»parently mate once in two years. 1---regnant
females have frequently been observed still feeding young calves.
In such cases the reproductive sequence is abbreviated, and reproduction
may take place twice in two or three years_
'l'he
behaviour is very similar to that of fin whales in other
regions.
There are indications that the height of the spout is
somewhat greater in soutixern than in northern fin whales, and may
be as much as eight or ten metres.
Unlike blue whales, fin whales with a harpoon in the body
can tow a ship behind them for hours, sometimes even towing it at
a spec:6 of two or three knots.
l;oth single whales and small groups of two or three, or
d
even five or more, are observeâ. in the fattening grounds. The
composition of these groups varies.
The bodies of almost all fin whales are subject to incrust--
.ation by diatom
The film of these algae appears, it is
believed, after the whales have been in cold waters for a month.
Solneti.nes ^'enella i s also observed.
Internal parasites consist of
various helminth s_oecies -- trematodes, nerlatodes, and Acanthocephala.
They generally infest the liver axid the intestines. The diseases
of fin whales have not been well studied. A baleen disease, first
recorded by Soviet inve^-ti.gators, i s of interest. During the 1*951-52
and 1952-53 sea.sons, and also in other years, falling-out of aarts
of the ba7.een -- sometimes as much as half the length of a row --
was observed in fin t,^ha.les in the Atlantic sector of the Antarctic.
The investigators t;*ere able to establish that the disease was caused
- by the activity of certain microorganisms.
Fro;:i 19'.57-33 until 1964-65 fin wliales took first place among
the w'=i.ale s^)ecies '.cillect in ^nt4xctic waters. The seasonal kill has
fluCt,u£3ted froi!1 ÿn i9^in^1Ci to 28,C09 in 1937In recent