34 



HARD WJCKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



THE SEALS AND WHALES OF THE 

 BRITISH SEAS. 



By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 

 No. IX. 



THE Pilot Whale {Globicephahis melas, Trail), 

 known in Shetland as the Ca'ing or Driving 

 Whale, is a frequent, although a very uncertain, 

 visitor in British waters. It is met with, according 

 to Lilljeborg, in the North Sea and northern part of 

 the Atlantic Ocean, occasionally as far north as 

 ( Greenland ; off the Orkney and Shetland Islands it 

 frequently makes its appearance, and has been found 

 on the British coast as far south as Cornwall. In 



following. Bell gives many instances of large num- 

 bers of these animals being taken, the last of which, 

 quoted from the " Zoologist " for 1846, is, perhaps, 

 the most extraordinary. It is there stated, "on 

 newspaper authority," that 2,080 were taken in 

 Faroe in the previous year within six weeks, and that 

 1,540 were killed 'within two //ours in Quendall Bay, 

 Shetland, on the 22nd September, 1845. This 

 species (fig. 61) is remarkable for its peculiarly 

 rounded head, — hence its generic name ; the flippers 

 are long and pointed, the dorsal fin long and low ; 

 the teeth about an inch in length, seldom all present 

 in the adults, and the normal number, according to 

 Bell, about twenty-four on either side each jaw ; ten 

 to twelve is, however, the more usual number present. 



Fig. do. Head of Ziphius or McsoplodoH (mentioned in Dr. Busteed's and Mr. Southwell's papers of last month ; 



from Trans. Roy. Irish Acad., vol. xxiv.). 



Bell's "British Quadrupeds" it is said that it also 

 appears to enter the Mediterranean. This species is 

 pre-eminently gregarious, and generally occurs in 

 large herds,, often numbering several hundreds. So 

 strong is their habit of association that they follow 

 the leading whale like a flock of sheep, a habit of which 

 the Orkney and Shetland Islanders are fully aware, and 

 avail themselves to the full. When a herd appears 

 in one of the bays, boats immediately set off, and, if 

 possible, get to seaward of them, then gradually 

 approaching, with shouts and splashes, they urge the 

 whole herd shoreward, and are generally successful 

 in driving a large portion of the whales into shallow 

 water ; but should the leader break through the line 

 of boats, the probability is that no efforts the boat's 

 crews can make will prevent all its companions 



The length of the adult is about nineteen or twenty 

 feet, its colour glossy black, with the exception of a 

 white stripe along the belly, which has a heart-shaped 

 termination under the throat. Its favourite food is 

 said to be cuttlefish. The figure is from the " Trans- 

 actions of the Zoological Society," vol. viii., pi. 30. 



The Common Porpoise (Phocana communis, F. 

 Cuv.) is the best known of the Cetacea inhabiting 

 the North Sea, being met with in abundance all 

 round the British Isles, seldom occurring far from 

 land, and often ascending large rivers for a consider- 

 able distance : it has been seen in the Thames as high 

 as London Bridge, and in the harbour at Lynn I have 

 often seen it. Nothing can be more interesting than 

 to watch a shoal of these animals at sea, sometimes 

 tumbling and gambling under the bows of the vessel 



