This German engraving, dating from the eighteenth century, shows some of the different kinds of whales hunted by the whalers. Baleen whales have curved jaws so that they can hold the long plates of baleen which hang from the upper jawbone. The whale louse pictured in the upper right hand corner is a tiny, flat, wingless insect which passes its entire life on the back of the whale. There it survives by feeding on blood and skin tissue.
Courtesy: Picture Division, Public Archives of Canada (C-97529)
