2()2 » WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



plattings pertain mostly to the summer season of the southern 

 hemisphere. There was much whaling off Peru at this season. 

 Off the west coast of South Africa the extensive whaling during 

 all months of the year probably may be attributed to the 

 effect of the cool northward-flowing Humboldt Current. This 

 current, deflected westward at the Equator, is responsible for 

 the uniformly cool sea temperatures about the Galaparos 

 Archipelago, where large numbers of Sperm Whales were 

 taken during more than half a century at all seasons of the 

 year." 



This species feeds almost exclusively on large squids or 

 cuttlefishes, and the scars of wounds inflicted by the hooks 

 and suckers of the cuttlefishes' tentacles can be seen on the 

 skin of the whales. One author has described how he has 

 seen a Sperm Whale vomit 75 to 100 squids when lanced ; 

 undigested fragments of cuttlefish of enormous size have 

 frequently been found in stomachs examined for food contents. 

 Although these great molluscs are its principal food, the Sperm 

 Whale has been known to consume fish as well. A well- 

 authenticated report of a whale in whose stomach a 10-foot 

 shark was found intact, besides furnishing additional infor- 

 mation of the range of creatures included in this whale's diet, 

 furnishes the most positive evidence of its capacity to swallow 

 a mass which must have exceeded the proportions of a fully- 

 grown man. To those who are interested in the story of the 

 prophet Jonah it is noteworthy that the Sperm Whale is known 

 to occur in the Mediterranean. 



Little is known about the breeding habits of this species. 

 Sperm Whales are said to be polygamous, and the female, 

 besides being smaller than the male, according to Scammon 

 " is likewise more slender in form and has an effeminate 

 appearance ". This author puts the period of gestation at 

 ten months, but Sir Sidney Harmer has suggested more 

 recently that it is about twelve months, and perhaps rather 

 more. One calf is usually produced at a birth, never, so far 

 as is known, more than two. The size of the newly-born 

 young one is about 12 to 14 feet ; there is a record from South 

 Africa of a fcetus 14 feet in length, but there is another instance 

 of a living young one measuring only 13 feet 3 inches. This 

 latter calf was captured among the reefs at the Bermudas and 



