Cardiographic observations on a fin-back whale.

FOR MANY years there has been considerable interest in recording the cardiograph of a whale. The underlying reasons for such a project are perhaps equally divided between the desire to complete a scientific comparative cardiology and the thrill of recording the heartbeat of the largest mammal. Previous partial success has been reported by King, Jenks and White, who, in 1953, obtained single lead bipolar records when electrode-harpoons were placed in the dorsum of a small (1135 Kg.) beluga whale which was captured off the Alaska Coast, in 1956, additional attempts were made to record cardiograms from healthy grey whales in the Baja California. As part of this project, special harpoon-leads were to be fired into the backs of whales from a boat or a hovering helicopter.Unfortunately, many technical difficulties frustrated these attempts to record the BCG of large whales. Thus, the task remained uncompleted until an accommodating male mysticete whale deposited himself on an accessible Provineetown beach, where the presently reported recordings were made.