 |
The remains of a bowhead
whale skull, unlike many of the other large whale
bone remains in this area, this one doesn't have
much plant growth around it, maybe a result of it
being moved to this position after the initial decay
and release of nutrients had taken place.
The rostrum is seen broken off near the base and
would have extended towards the bottom of the
picture some 3-4 times the length of the rest of
this skull. The large hole at the base of the skull
is where it would have articulated with the first
vertebra, the black disc to the left of this is a
camera lens cap for scale though of course the boots
of the person to the side of the picture probably
give a better indicator of scale.
A large open bay to the south of the Hornsund fjord, Gåshamna
is the site of whaling activity from the 1600 to
1700's. In these times bowhead and right whales were
the target species as they were slow swimming and
relatively easy to catch, they yielded large
quantities of oil and of whale bone (baleen). The
faster swimming rorquals such as blue, fin and minke
whales wouldn't be in the whalers sights for another
two hundred years.
These remains are left behind by English whalers of
this era.
76° 56.7' N, 15°
49.9' E
Picture
copyright Paul Ward |
|
Previous page