104 THE SEAS 



may reach the immense size of eighty-five feet or more in 

 length. The weight of such a whale would be over 300 tons. 



Whales are distributed all over the oceans of the world, 

 but while the toothed whales are to be found roaming 

 throughout the central parts of the oceans where their prey, 

 the squids, occur, the whalebone whales are chiefly confined 

 to the cold Arctic and Antarctic waters and the coastal 

 banks, where the drifting life on which they feed is most 

 abundant. Many whales are stranded, dead or alive, from 

 time to time along the coasts of the British Isles. 



Little is known of the habits of whales, of their migrations, 

 their breeding or of their growth. 



Recently an interesting letter was published in Nature 

 by Mr. R. W. Gray on the sleep of whales. It appears that 

 whales are very rarely seen sleeping on the surface ; when 

 they do so they lie motionless at the surface with their 

 backs just awash and their blow holes just out of the water. 

 But it is suggested that usually they sleep below the surface 

 with their blow holes tightly closed, and this is quite possible 

 seeing that they can remain beneath the surface for an 

 hour or more when harpooned. 



Seals 



Other mammals that have taken up their abode in the 

 sea are the seals, the sea-lions and the walruses. Unlike 

 whales, which are unabb to leave their watery home, the 

 seals can move with considerable rapidity on dry land, 

 although their gait can hardly be said to be gainly. Indeed 

 all seals resort to dry land to bring forth their young, 

 whether it be on sandy beaches, on rocks or on ice floes, and 

 the young seals are said to be reluctant at first to enter 

 the water. 



There are many different species of seals, but only two 

 are usually to be seen around British coasts, the Common 



