WHALES 



terior margin crenulated; color black with variable white 

 mottling below; longitudinal furrows along throat and belly, 

 about 26 in number; lower jaw extending well beyond upper; 

 baleen short; spout issuing from a pair of spiracles as twin 



Fig. 128. Humpback Whale 



columns which unite and expand; blowing from one to fifteen 

 or twenty times to a "rising"; spout may reach 20 feet or 

 more in height; animals may be encountered singly or in 

 numbers. 



Geographical Distribution. — In North America, on Atlantic 

 and Pacific coasts. 



Suborder ODONTOCETI. Toothed Cetaceans 



Teeth always present after birth, usually numerous, but in 

 some species only a few are functional (none functional in 

 some instances) ; no baleen; upper surface of skull more or less 

 asymmetrical, nostrils opening as a single spiracle; lower jaws 

 united by a symphysis ; olfactory organ rudimentary or absent. 



Family Physeteridae. Sperm Whales 



Head veiry large; mandible slender and toothed; upper jaw 

 large and toothless. 



Genus Physeter 



Sperm Whale. — Physeter catodon Linnaeus 



Names. — Sperm Whale; Cachelot; Pottfish (German). 

 General Description. — A large, toothed Whale; length 

 reaching 70 to 85 feet for the largest males, females only about 



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