50 GIANT FISHES 



make their way up the narrowest fiords, in which they were 

 never seen in the ordinary way, in order to feed upon 

 horseflesh. 



There are many ancient stories of these Sharks attacking 

 living whales, but this is highly improbable, and the individuals 

 in question were most probably feeding on a carcase. When 

 a whale has been killed they will make their appearance in 

 numbers, and speedily commence to tear large lumps from 

 the body and finally gorge themselves into a condition 

 bordering upon coma. While thus engaged, they seem to be 

 insensible to blows on the head or repeated stabs with lances 

 or knives, merely sheering off for a moment and then returning 

 to the feast with fresh vigour. As far as man is concerned, 

 they are quite harmless, and the old stories of Greenlanders 

 attacked when in their kayaks are without foundation. 



There is still some doubt as to the reproductive habits of 

 this shark. Numerous round, soft eggs, up to the size of a 

 hen's egg, but without any shell, have been found within the 

 bodies of females, but whether these are shed on the sea floor 

 or whether they develop within the mother is by no means 

 certain. The fact that the species from the Mediterranean 

 (5. rostratus) has long been known to be viviparous suggests 

 that the Greenland Shark may also produce living young. 



The Greenland Shark is of considerable economic importance, 

 chiefly on account of the liver oil. Fisheries have long existed 

 on the coasts of Greenland, Iceland and Norway, and consider- 

 able quantities of oil were at one time exported from these 

 countries. A large shark will give anything from i to 2\ or 

 even 3 barrels of oil. In Greenland the industry seems to 

 date from about 1805, and by the middle of the last century 

 the natives were catching between 2000 and 3000 sharks each 

 year. By 1914 the annual catch had risen to about 32,000, 

 but there has been a steady decline in recent years. In 

 Iceland the export of oil in 1880 was 8192 barrels, but by 

 1920 it had fallen to a mere 1881 barrels, and to-day the indus- 

 try is of little importance. In Iceland and Greenland the 

 flesh is used as food for the dogs, and at times it is also eaten 

 by the natives themselves. It is of interest to note that in a 

 dried state, or when semi-putrid, the flesh is quite wholesome, 

 but when fresh it produces a kind of intoxicant poisoning both 



