212 BLUE SHAEK. 



is not surprising tliat a straggler is now and then seen 

 off the British shores ; but the instances of its capture 

 are few. It reaches the length of twenty-five feet, and is 

 of an ash colour above, and whitish beneath. It swims 

 with great ease and swiftness, from the size of its 

 pectoral fins, and the strength and expansiveness of its 

 tail. The nostrils are large, and it scents its prey at a 

 great distance. 



The Blue Shark (Sgnalus glaucus ; German : Per 

 Blaue Hai ; Dutch : Toonhai ; French : Squale bleu) 

 arrives in English seas about the middle of June. He 

 feeds upon sardines, herrings, and mackerel, and often 

 does terrible mischief to the nets. He passes up and 

 down the nets, and often when tearing the fish out of 

 the net cuts out great pieces of it with his sharp scissor- 

 like teeth. Sometimes he rolls himself u^ tightly in 

 the nets ; on such occasions the fishermen bless him. 



The pectorals are long and pointed, the back is slate 

 blue, as also are the superior surfaces of the pectorals 

 and ventrals. The rest of the body and fins are wdiite. 



In September, 1868, Mr. Climo, of Fowey, informed 

 me that a blue shark, 8ft. Sin. long, and supposed to 

 v/eigh 2 cwi., had been caught with hook and line by 

 some pilchard fishermen. 



The Greenland Shark (Squaliis borealis, Scymnus 

 horealis, Dalatiasviicrocephaliis), a native of the northern 

 seas, has been observed on our coasts ; the oak kettle of 

 Iceland cod-men. An account is given of it in Dr. 

 Scoresby's " Arctic Kegions.'' It is 12ft. or 14fc. in 

 length, sometimes more ; and its colour is ash-grey. 

 This shark is a great foe to the whale, wdiich it bites 

 and annoys while living, and devom's wdien dead. In- 

 sensible to pain and tenacious of life, as are all the 

 larger sharks, this si^ecies is pre-eminently so. An 



