Was it a whale, or was it a fish?

We have all heard of the story of Jonah and the whale but the bible makes mention of a fish, not a whale:

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow vp Ionah, and Ionah was in the belly of the fish three dayes, and three nights.

And the Lord spake vnto the fish, and it vomited out Ionah vpon the drie land.

Book of Jonah. King James Bible of 1611

In fact whales were generally thought to be fish up until 1758 when the great Swedish Biologist Linnaeus correctly recognised them as being mammals.

So, most of us now know that whales are mammals, but the lawyers know better! In 1971 The Lord Chancellor* of the UK proclaimed (Hansard (1971), Vo. 314, no 46 col. 714) that:

Whales, porpoises and dolphins (and the sturgeon), so far as the law is concerned, are fish "whatever the scientists might say".

Sturgeons are in fact fish! Confused? So am I!

*The Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet and, by law, is responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts.