THE WHALES 63 



to allow the water to escape, but holding the jellyfishes, 

 which slowly pass down the small throat. 



One of the best places to observe the whalebone whale 

 is the Santa Catalina Channel, off Southern California, a 

 body of water between the island of that name and the 

 mainland. This is a famous feeding ground for the 

 Cahfornia gray whale, abounding in vast numbers of jelly- 

 fishes of large size. I have seen the water so filled with 

 jellyfishes a foot across and from three to twenty or more 

 feet in length, that from the deck of a fast moving steamer 

 numbers were constantly in sight. At other times 

 smaller forms were seen, constituting such a solid mass 

 that a bucketful could be lifted almost anywhere. Such a 

 condition of affairs has many attractions for the whales ; 

 and the daily steamers from San Pedro to Avalon fre- 

 quently pass one or more, and occasionally so near that 

 the passengers see these giants at close hand. It is not 

 uncommon for a school of whales from fifty to seventy 

 feet in length to swim in the same direction for some 

 time. On a certain occasion one remained alongside the 

 steamer so close that several photographs were obtained 

 of its black back and the " spout." It sometimes occurs 

 that the whales rise in front of the steamer and gambol 

 about, being perfectly harmless, and the captain will stop 

 the vessel and blow the whistle loudly several times. The 

 steamer Hermosa has plunged into whales, killing at least 

 two to my knowledge, the animals drifting ashore several 

 days later and each being exhibited as the whale that almost 

 stopped a large steamer. The shock when the vessel struck 

 the whale was almost sufficient to knock over persons who 

 were standing, but occasioned no damage to the vessel. 



