374 



WHALES 



is pressed close to either side of the body, so that it does not protrude, and 

 the flaccid flukes are neatly tucked in. It has sometimes been stated that, 

 because their fins and flukes have not yet acquired their final rigidity, 

 newly-born Cetaceans are poor swimmers during the first few days after 

 their birth, and dolphin hunters from Yalta and the coast of Novorossiysk 

 even claim that their umbilical cord remains attached to the mother for 

 that period. However, all these claims must be discounted, since observa- 

 tions in the Marineland Aquarium have shown clearly that the umbilical 

 cord snaps off during, or immediately after, birth, and that the young can 

 swim very efficiently from the start, even though it takes some weeks before 

 the dorsal fin and flukes become erect and rigid. 



The birth of Cetaceans is shrouded in more legend than just this. Thus 

 both Liitken (1887) and Pedersen (1931) were told by the inhabitants of 



Figure 20(j. Section of a 5-foot, female porpoise, caught ojf Den Helder on ig March 1937. 

 Top : The 2-foot, foetus in the left uterine horn. Below : Uterus cut open. The foetus lies in the 

 tail position, but the uterine horn is so bent that its snout, as well, is directed towards the 

 mother's tail. {Photograph : D. van der ^weep, Utrecht.) 



