OHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
"The food of the whale consists of various species of actiniae,
cliones, sepiae, medusae, cancri, and helices ; or, a t least, some of these
genera are always to be seen wherever any tribe of whales is found
stationary and feeding. I n the dead animals, however, in the very few
instances in which I have been enabled to open their stomachs, squillae
or shrimps were the only substances discovered. I n the mouth of a
whale just killed, I once found a quantity of the same kind of insect.
" When the whale feeds, it swims with considerable velocity below
the surface of the sea, with its jaws widely extended. A stream of water
consequently enters its capacious mouth, and along with it, large
quantities of water insects ; the water escapes again a t the sides ; but
the food is entangled and sifted, as it were, by the whalebone, which,
from its compact arrangement, and the thick internal covering of hair,
does not allow a particle the size of the smallest grain to escape."
So wrote William Scoresby, Jr., sea captain and naturalist, in 1820
about the common or Greenland right whale and its food in northern
aeas. What were these squillae, shrimps, or insects that, despite his
first sentence, appear to have formed the sole food of these great
whales? There is no doubt, from subsequent reports by other observers,
that they were the crustaceans which were called by the Norwegian
whalers " stor krill ') (large krill) and " smaa krill ) ' (small krill). The
former was the species Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars) and the
latter was usually Thysanoessa inermis (Kreryer) but occasionally the
related species T . raschii (M. Sars). Although these crustaceans are
found in the seas around the British Isles they are encountered by few
except those who search for them and so they have no common English
name. It is not surprising, however, that, since they are more common
around Scotland and are found in some of the deep lochs on the west
coast, there is a Gaelic name for Meganyctiphanes norvegica; the fishermen call it " suil dhu " which means " black eyes )', because of its
large prominent eyes.
Meganyctiphanes norvegica and other species of euphausiids occur
in vast numbers in northern seas, as do related species in Antarctic
waters, and they form a major component of the food of many marine
1
INTRODUCTION
"The food of the whale consists of various species of actiniae,
cliones, sepiae, medusae, cancri, and helices ; or, a t least, some of these
genera are always to be seen wherever any tribe of whales is found
stationary and feeding. I n the dead animals, however, in the very few
instances in which I have been enabled to open their stomachs, squillae
or shrimps were the only substances discovered. I n the mouth of a
whale just killed, I once found a quantity of the same kind of insect.
" When the whale feeds, it swims with considerable velocity below
the surface of the sea, with its jaws widely extended. A stream of water
consequently enters its capacious mouth, and along with it, large
quantities of water insects ; the water escapes again a t the sides ; but
the food is entangled and sifted, as it were, by the whalebone, which,
from its compact arrangement, and the thick internal covering of hair,
does not allow a particle the size of the smallest grain to escape."
So wrote William Scoresby, Jr., sea captain and naturalist, in 1820
about the common or Greenland right whale and its food in northern
aeas. What were these squillae, shrimps, or insects that, despite his
first sentence, appear to have formed the sole food of these great
whales? There is no doubt, from subsequent reports by other observers,
that they were the crustaceans which were called by the Norwegian
whalers " stor krill ') (large krill) and " smaa krill ) ' (small krill). The
former was the species Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars) and the
latter was usually Thysanoessa inermis (Kreryer) but occasionally the
related species T . raschii (M. Sars). Although these crustaceans are
found in the seas around the British Isles they are encountered by few
except those who search for them and so they have no common English
name. It is not surprising, however, that, since they are more common
around Scotland and are found in some of the deep lochs on the west
coast, there is a Gaelic name for Meganyctiphanes norvegica; the fishermen call it " suil dhu " which means " black eyes )', because of its
large prominent eyes.
Meganyctiphanes norvegica and other species of euphausiids occur
in vast numbers in northern seas, as do related species in Antarctic
waters, and they form a major component of the food of many marine
1