Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1985, Blaðsíða 20

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period 1938—75, and large whales
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SUMMARY
A hand harpoon found in a
sperm whale (Physeter macroc-
ephalus) caught off Iceland.
by
Jóhdnn Sigurjónsson
Marine Research Institute
P. O. Box 390 Reykjavík
For management purposes sperm whal-
es (Physeter macrocepahalus) in the
North-Atlantic Ocean have been treated
as a single stock (Anon. 1981). A west-east
nrovement (from the coast of Nova-Scotia
to the North-West coast of Spain) of
North-Atlantic sperm whales has been
shown by one mark-recapture (Mitchell
1975). The present note gives the second
proof for a long distance movement of a
sperm whale within this ocean, and the
first direct proof for a movement of a male
sperm whale from lower latitudes of the
North-Atlantic to the areas west of
Iceland.
On 2nd August, 1981 a hand harpoon
was found lodged in a 46 ft male sperm
whale caught by an Icelandic whaling vess-
el (Hvalur 8) on the grounds west off
Iceland (ca. 65°40’N, 28°45’W). The har-
poon (Figs 2—4), with að nylon rope attac-
hed, was found to be identical to those
presently used in the open-boat whaling
off the Azores and Madeira (Clarke 1954,
1981, Anon. 1980). More direct indication
of the orgin of the harpoon is Martin’s
(1982) discovery of the actual owner of the
harpoon. The owner claims to have lost his
harpoon into the whale in question south
of Flores (an island in the Azores archipel-
ago) about 1590 n.m. south of the catch
position, little less than one year earlier.
Thus the finding of the harpoon suggests a
link between male sperm whales migrating
seasonally towards the catch grounds west
of Iceland and the breeding units off the
Azores. Furthermore, it may also support
the hypothesis of a single stock of North-
Atlantic sperm whales.
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