Forenoon on New Seas 191 



the surf, parallel to the flat, sandy shore, and a rowboat was sta- 

 tioned at either end. Dolphins of a species known as Tursiops trun- 

 catus crowd by Cape Hatteras in huge schools from late fall to early 

 spring, following certain fish just beyond the surf. When a school 

 passed thus to the landward of the net, the boats quickly carried the 

 end lines ashore and then returned to station themselves outside the 

 net to prevent the dolphins from jumping out to freedom. It took 

 upwards of an hour to haul the great net to shore, but as many as a 

 hundred animals could be taken at a single haul. This industry con- 

 tinued into the present century, principally because of a very special 

 kind of oil that can be extracted from the lower jaws of the Tursiops. 



This oil is taken from the back end of the lower jaw on either 

 side and, when refined, was once valued as high as twenty dollars 

 a gallon. It is extremely light and perfectly suited for oiling small 

 watches and other delicate instruments. Secondly, the hides of these 

 animals make very fine leather, and the blubber yields other oil of 

 high grade. 



The animals concerned are popularly known as Bottle-nosed 

 Dolphins, and are apparently of world-wide range. The commonest 

 species, which is that caught ofiF Hatteras, is found all over the North 

 Atlantic, and has been reported from the Mediterranean, the Black 

 and Baltic seas, and from the Pacific as far south as New Zealand. 

 There is a very similar species with the delightful name of Tursiops 

 abusalam, found only in the Red Sea, and another from the Indian 

 Ocean. All are about ten feet long, and they are fish-eaters, consum- 

 ing not only enormous quantities of this food, but equally enormous 

 individual fish. They will eat up to a hundred pounds in a day, and 

 in captivity they will eat dead as well as live ifood. They mate be- 

 tween January and April, and they migrate north in summer. 



The most notable feature of these dolphins is that they can turn 

 their heads around almost like land animals and quite unlike any 

 other whale that lives in the sea. Most whales have fixed, rigid necks, 

 but the Tursiops can not only turn its head down to an angle of 

 forty-five degrees, but it can also turn it to either side or raise it 

 almost straight up. It has eyelids that are every bit as mobile as 

 ours; these often give it a very bizarre expression. It also has a habit 

 of winking. In color, the common species is shiny black with a white 

 streak below, and its lower jaw protrudes beyond its upper beak. It 



