282 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



the body is denuded of its blubber coat- 

 ing. 



The blubber which covers the bodies of 

 all Cetaceans is a layer of fat which acts 

 as a non-conductor to prevent the bodily 



heat from being absorbed by the water, 

 and thus keeps the animal warm. It 

 can be stripped off just as one would peel 

 an orange and by means of the steam 

 winch one side of an eighty-foot whale 



By courtesy of National Geographic 

 Magazine. Copyrighted, 1911 

 Two humpback whales diving. They had been feeding near tlie surface, coming up to blow every 

 few seconds. The great diversity in the shape of the dorsal fin in tliis species is well shown by these two 

 individuals 



White whale diving. Passengers on the steamers traversing the St. Lawrence River often mistake 

 the bodies of the white porpoises for whitecaps. This photograph shows the white whale in the act of 

 diving with the maximum amoimt of body exposed above the surface of the water 



