CHAPTER XI 



WHALES, SEALS AND WALRUSES 



THE whale shark has no special connection with 

 whales, except that it competes with them for 

 the title of the world's largest creature. The use 

 of the word ''whale" in its name is misleading — the word 

 simply means ''great", as it is often used in other con- 

 nections, and the term "The Great Shark", although less 

 often used to describe the fish, is the one that will be used 

 in this chapter to prevent confusion. 



It is certain that either the great shark or the blue 

 whale (sometimes called the sulphur bottom) is the biggest 

 creature in the sea. Whichever holds the honour auto- 

 matically becomes the largest in the whole world, for the 

 largest land animal (the bull African elephant, standing 

 eleven feet at the shoulder and weighing seven tons) is 

 only a fraction of the size or weight of either. 



Many authorities unhesitatingly vote for the blue 

 whale [Balaenoptera musculus) as the world's largest 

 creature. Specimens have been recorded up to a length 

 of 1 08 feet, weighing 131 J tons — figures which certainly 

 make those relating to the African elephant look insig- 

 nificant. 



Specimens of the great shark have measured 100 feet 

 — but so little is known of it, that it is at a great disad- 

 vantage when comparisons are made between it and the 

 blue whale. Many thousands of observations of the blue 

 whale have been made to get the figure "108 feet", but 

 only a few of the great shark to get the figure "100 feet". 

 Taking available statistics, the average length of the great 



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