310 WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



with its back breaking water every few minutes, heard its 

 characteristic ' puff ', and knew by the direction it was making 

 that it would pass quite close to where we stood, so we waited 

 to watch it. Wrien it got near we noticed that the animal 

 did not come to the surface as is usual, with its dorsal fin quite 

 upright, but rather it was blowing lying very much on its side. 

 We were a trifle puzzled about its behaviour until we noticed 

 that there were two, a young one holding on to its mother's 

 white belly. The reason for the parent lying slightly on its 

 side when blowing was obvious : it allowed the baby's little 

 blowhole to break water, otherwise breathing would have 

 been impossible." This method of suckling is identical with 

 that observed in Whalebone Whales as described in Chapter XI. 



As an article of food the Porpoise was formerly much more 

 in demand than at the present time. Beddard says, " it 

 formed a royal dish even so recently as the time of Henry 

 VIII ", and another authority, Fischer, states that there was 

 formerly a considerable porpoise fishery along the whole coast 

 of Normandy, with laws on the subject as early as 1098. The 

 flesh was sold in markets and the oil used for lamps. 



A i_xy-grown Common Porpoise weighs from ico to 120 lb. 



BURMEISTER'S PORPOISE (Phocana spinipinnis) . 

 Fig. 78. 



This species is in general form like the Common Porpoise, 

 but as seen in profile the head is less rounded. The flippers 

 are more pointed and larger than in the Common Porpoise. 

 The shape of the dorsal fin is unlike that of any other species, 

 its front edge being concave and its hinder one convex. It is 

 the series of blunt little spines or tubercles on the front margin 

 of the dorsal fin that is referred to in the trivial name spini- 

 pinnis. Behind the dorsal fin on the back and behind the 

 vent on the under surface the tail stock is raised into two 

 ridges. The colour of this species is entirely black. On each 

 side of upper and lower jaw are 16 or 17 teeth. The size 

 of the animal is comparable to that of the Common Porpoise. 

 It is a rarely-occurring species, ranging from La Plata, round 

 the Horn to Peru. 



