102 



THE SEAS 



preventing its warm blood from cooling, and to this end its 

 whole body is encased in thick coatings of fat — the blubber. 

 The whale's nostrils are situated on the highest part of 

 the head, and it is through these that it spouts or blows. 

 The well-known spouting of the whale is nothing more 

 than the act of breathing. The air in the lungs becomes 

 heated and steamy and is ejected with considerable force 

 when the whale rises to the surface, and condensing in the 

 cold atmosphere it appears like a spray of water. Occasion- 

 ally the whale starts to blow before it has actually broken 

 the surface, in which case water is also driven into the air. 



Fig. 21. — Outline and skeleton of Greenland Right whale (Balaena mysticetus) 

 b, blow hole ; p, hip bone ; /, rudimentary thigh bone. 



There are many different kinds of whales, but they may 

 be divided into two main groups, the toothed whales and 

 the whalebone whales. 



The great Sperm whale is a good example of the toothed 

 whales (Plate 42). Although there are no teeth in the 

 upper jaw of the Sperm whale, or Cachalot, the lower jaw 

 is well armed with twenty to twenty-five pairs of very sharp 

 teeth. These teeth are most necessary for it feeds on a 

 very formidable prey, the giant cuttlefishes or squids. 

 Judging by the taste of the small common squid which is 

 eaten on the Continent, the whale must feed on tasty 

 morsels, but it has to capture a fearsome monster before it 



