194 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



after its capture. Though prone to basking when the sun 

 shone into its tank, it appeared never to sleep, or, if it 

 slept, never to entirely cease its steady forward movement. 

 Its average progress was at the rate of some six miles an 

 hour. 



Porpoises and Dolphins feed almost exclusively on 

 fish, but the Killer Whale is virtually omnivorous as regards 

 animal foods. In one specimen the remains of fourteen 

 small Porpoises and several seals were found, whilst 

 penguins figure largely in its menu when it visits antarctic 

 waters. 



It travels in vast shoals, chiefly frequenting warm seas, 

 though stragglers reach our northern shores and one has 

 been known to ascend as far up the Thames as Chiswick. 



The Grampus or Killer has well been dubbed the 

 " Wolf of the Seas." Although its striking jazz pattern 

 of black and white serves to make it largely invisible 

 when travelling at high speed in a boil of foam, its immense 

 high backfin makes it a conspicuous object when swimming 

 at the surface. Though nothing comes amiss to it, it 

 fives largely on the larger Whales, hunting them in packs 

 and literally eating them alive, when not infrequently 

 it uses its wedge-shaped head to force open the victim's 

 mouth, when it tears out the tongue — a titbit which it is 

 particularly fond of. 



Like most Porpoises it shows a high degree of intelligence 

 and courage. Frequently it will chase penguins until they 

 seek refuge on an ice floe. The Killer will then dive be- 

 neath and deliberately seeks to bump them off into the sea, 

 sometimes splitting floes several feet thick with its powerful 



