Bryde's Whale Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1878 stranded near Rosedale, Queensland in 1931 PDF
Preview Bryde's Whale Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1878 stranded near Rosedale, Queensland in 1931
326 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM BRYDE'SWHALEBALAENOPTERAEDENl ANDER- B. edeni and the darkshoulderform ofthe minke whale B. SON, 1878STRANDEDNEARROSEDALE,QUEENS- acutorostrataonly(Omura, 1959& 1975).The largesizeof LANDIN1931. MemoirsoftheQueenslandMuseum42(1): the skull and mandible of the Rosedale whale excludes B. 326.1997:- Bryde'swhaleB.edeniwasthelastbalaenopterid acutorostrataTherearenowtwospecimensofB.edeniinthe to bedescribedand its osteological distinction from the sei Queensland Museum, J21713 and JM4386, collected from whale B. borealis Lesson, 1828 was not resolved until the Tin Can Bay and the Great Sandy Strait in 1965 and 1983 studiesofJunge(1950)andOmura(1959). respectively.Theirdiagnosticnasalbonecharacteristicshave The Queensland Museum Archives contain correspon- beenconfirmedbyPaterson&VanDyck(1988).Theskullof dence between HeberA. Longman, aformerDirectorofthe the humpback whale donated by Welsby and referred to by Museum,andRosedaleresidentsconcerningthestrandingof Longman is registered J3343 in the cetacean collection. Its alargebalaenopterid~6kmsouthofAgnesWater(24°10'S, nasals(and those ofthreeotherhumpbackwhalespecimens 15T53'E)in 1931. LongmanwrotetoConstableE.M. Riley more recently collected) are antero-medially peaked anddo of Rosedale Police Station on 26 November 1931: 7 am notresembletheconfigurationofthoseoftheRosedalewhale greatly indebted to you and Mrs Rileyfor the information or the two B. edenispecimens in the Queensland Museum. telephonedlastweekregardingtheremainsofawhalefound The anterior nasal margins of the Rosedale whale are well nearRosedale.MrD. Hoarekindlygavemethismorningan posteriorto the posteriormaxillary concavity. Junge (1950) excellentsenesofphotographs,auditisquiteevidenttfuitthe considered this an important characteristic ofB. edenicom- remainsrepresentaHump-back Whale, whichistechnically paredwithB.borealisinwhichtheanteriornasalmarginsare knownasMegapteranodosa...Althoughwefiaveaspecimen atasimilarleveltothemaxillaryconcavity. ofthis whale in the Museum, which was presented by Mr Thepreservedarchivalmaterialillustratesperennialprob- Thomas Welsby, 1should verymuch like toobtain the com- lemsassociatedwiththeretrievaloflargecetaceansandhas plete set ofbones ifthey could be secured without much enabledaretrospectiveidentificationofB. edeni. expense*. Rileyrepliedanddisc—ussedpotentialproblemsas- sociatedwithpossibleretrieval factorsnolessrelevant65 LiteratureCited years later. He recommended thatthe assistance ofMrF.G. JUNGE, G.C.A. 1950. On a specimen ofthe rare fin whale CollinsofRosedaleCattleStationbesought: *... Thedistance Balaenopteraedeni Anderson, stranded on Puli Sugi aisnsdiptousaitteidonrewnhdeerreitthaesvkeerlyetdiofnfi[clualtterunnodteerdtatkoibneg-...15Itmwloounlg]d OMURnAe,arHS.in1g9a5p9o.re.BrZyodoel'osgiwshcahleeVferrohmantdheelcionagsetno9f:J1a-p2a6n.. takeabout20menand4or5motorlorriestoaccomplishsuch Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute, ataskonaweekend...*.Rileysuggestedapossiblealternative Tokyo 14: 1-33. toroad transportviz. that aboat tow, ona very calm day, a 1975. Osteological study of the minke whale from the lograftonwhichtheboneswereloadedtoAgnesWaterwhere Antarctic. Scientific Reports ofthe Whales Research motorvehicleshadreadyaccesstothewater'sedge.Longman Institute,Tokyo27: 1-36. wrotetoCollinson 14Decemberwhorepliedon29December PATERSON, R.A. & VAN DYCK, S. 1988. Bryde's whale makingnoreferencetothewatertransportproposal: '... One in the coastal waters of eastern Australia. Scientific ofmymenwhoknowsthelocationwelladvisesthatitwould Reports ofthe Whales Research Institute, Tokyo 39: beverydifficulttoconveytheselargebonesfrom wherethey 21-29. areburiedinthesandtowhereitispossibletofitaconveyance R.A. Paterson, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South tobring them tothenearestRailwayStation, adistance not Brisbane, Queensland,Australia4101;11March1997. lessthan40miles. Thereispractically noroadfromwherethewhalerenutins areforabout4milesandtheroadfrom there to Rosedale is mostly bad and rough. 1 am of the opinion that the expenseofrecoveringthesebonesand conveyingthemto thenearestrailway wouldbefartooheavyto warrantthe outlay...*, InLongman'shand-writing thereisanannotationtotheletter: 'Mr Collins visited the Museum on Dec. 31st'. As fa—r as is known the matter restedthere asdidtheskeleton. Eleven photographs were sent to Longman.Twoareshownhere(Fig. 1). It is likely, from the cleanness ofthe skullandmandibleas well as thestate ofthe soft tissues still attached to the post-cranial skeleton [in photographs not shown here], that the whale had been stranded for some months. Its identification by Longman as a large adult balaenopterid is clearly correct but his suggestionthat itwasahump- backwhaleisconsiderederroneous. The nasal bones are well demon- satnrtaetreidorimnarthgeinpshoatreogcroanpchasveanadndtheini-r FIiGn.le1n.gAt,h.DTohrseaplrev-imeawxiolflsakruilelsoafrethmeisRsoisnegdaalnedwthhealleeftwmhaixcihllwaarsyeisstdiammaatgeeddt.obB,eS-k1u5lml clined forwardsontheirouteraspects, andmandible. featuresseenamongbalaenopterids in
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