28 BRITISH MAMMALS 



to the tail, is nearly vertical, and is prolonged to quite a sharp, 

 stiff point. But this lengthy development of the back fin is 

 characteristic of the males ; in the females it is much shorter. 

 Ancient writers were much impressed with this long, sharp back 

 fin of the killer whale, and started the theory that it was even 

 more rigid and sharp than it is in actuality, and that with this 

 powerful weapon the orca ripped up the belly of the huge 

 whales whom it delights to attack. There is, however, no truth 

 in this story. The killer whales devour seals, porpoises, and 

 dolphins, and attack and eat piecemeal the biggest whales of all 

 kinds. They are said to swallow the smaller dolphins alive, even 

 to the extent of four in succession, and Eschricht, a Danish 

 naturalist, even asserted that in one specimen of the orca which 

 was stranded on the Baltic coast, and which only measured 1 6 ft. 

 in length, there were remains in the stomach of fourteen small 

 seals. Graphic accounts have been given by Lydekker and 

 Scammon of the way in which the killer attacks large whales, 

 generally aiming first at the mouth and head. It is stated by 

 some that when a whalebone whale opens its mouth the orca 

 dashes in, snatches at and drags out the tongue, which it devours 

 with gusto, 



Fseudorca eras si dens. The Lesser Killer 



This whale scarcely exceeds 14 ft. in length, and has some- 

 what fewer teeth on each side of the jaw than in Orca^ those in 

 the lower jaw (ten on each side) being usually more numerous 

 than in the upper jaw (eight on each side). The back fin is 

 much shorter than in the orca, and the flippers are more pointed 

 and less broad ; moreover, in colour it is entirely black. This 

 whale appears to be almost universally distributed, having been 

 found (fossil) in England (Lincolnshire), and living on the coast of 

 Denmark, and also off Tasmania. It is remarkable (as a British 

 mammal) from the fact that it was first described from a fossil 

 skull found in the Lincolnshire fens. Some years ago a herd 

 of these lesser killers entered the Baltic, and were described 

 by Danish naturalists. 



