Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1978, Qupperneq 23

oyggjandi á vísindalegan hátt afburða
greind iivala. Þeir sem fengist hafa
við þessar rannsóknir eru þó flestir
sammála um, að hvalir, sumar teg-
undir a. m. k., séu meðal gieindari
dýra; erfitt sé hins vegar að setja
greind þessara lagarspendýra undir
mælistiku.
Meðan vísindamenn á tilraunastof-
um hafa vart kornist lengra en að
sannreyna nema „meðal hundsvit"
li já hvölum (í jákvæðri merkingu þess
°rðs) verða menn að bíða frekari fram-
próunar vísindanna við þessar athug-
anir, því sárasjaldan gefst kostur á að
meta greind þessara dýra úti í hinni
frjálsu náttúru. Fáeinar staðfestar frá-
sagnir nm náin samskipti manna og
villtra hvala (höfrnnga) eru til, jafn-
vel um að höfrungar hafi bjargað lífi
sjómanna, sem fallið hafa útbyrðis.
Frásögnina af atburðinum út af Slétta-
nesi má vel kalla eina af fáurn sögum
um slík samskipti. Sú saga verður ef-
laust til að styrkja þá í trúnni, er
þykjast sjá í þessum frændum sínum
nánustu andlegu skyldmenni sín í
hinu jarðneska dýraríki.
HEIMILDIR
('hopsku, K. K., V. E. Sokolov (Editors).
1973: Morphology and Ecology of
Marine Mammals. fsrael Prog. f. Sci-
ent. Translation, London—Jerusalem
(jtýtt úr rúmensku).
Munleg frásögn Halldórs Níelssonar stýri-
manns á vélbátnum Níels Jónsson EA
109 (af segulbandi), hljóðrituð af
Ástráði Ingvarssyni fiskveiðieftirlits-
manni.
Rochett, li. W. 1975: Whales and Dolph-
ins. Penguin Books Ltd.
Schewill, W. E. 1974: The Whale Pro-
blem. Harvard University Press.
Sccmundsson, Bjarni. 1932: Spendýrin.
Reykjavlk.
S U M M A R Y
Mink whale (Balaenoplera acutoro-
strata) using boat to free itself of a
fishing net
by Einar Jónsson
Marine Research Instilute,
Skúlagata 7, Reykjavik.
In July 1971 a small fishing boat —
length about lö feet — was fishing near
Sléttanes on the Vestfirdir-peninsula in
north-west Iceland. The crew of three
noticed a minke whale (llalaenoptera acu-
torostrata) circling in the vicinity of the
boat and gradually coming closer. After
some 1—2 hours the creature came so near
that the crew could clearly see a pink
colored net (made of polyethylene cont-
monly uscd in trawls) tightly thrust as
a noose over the whale’s head, apparently
hindering tlie animal in opening its
mouth. After some dramatic scenes in
which the whale passed close under and
around the tiny vessel and finally rose
vertically in the water at the side of the
boat wltere the fishermen tried to ptdl
the net off its head with a hook, the
wliale dived under the boat and rubbed
its head against the keel thus manag-
ing to rub or cut off the net. This
maneuver only causecl tlie boat to wag
softly as the movements of the whale
— at least 25 feet long — were quite
gentle. Once lree of the net, the whale
“danced happily” on its tail around the
boat letting itself fall playfully on its
back. Calming down it stayed in the vic-
inity of the boat and gave a chase when
the crew started the engine and headed
homewards. For some 3 hours the animal
tailed the boat, either playing in the bow-
waves at few feet distance or lagging be-
hind. When the boat turned off into its
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