Behemoths of the Ocean 



less than water, and can with the utmost ease 

 float close to the surface. 



Indeed, a Greenland whale seldom by choice 

 wanders very far below. He much prefers to 

 come up and breathe every ten or fifteen 

 minutes ; though, when fleeing from the deadly 

 harpoon, he has been known to stay under water 

 at a stretch more than three-quarters of an hour. 

 But this is exceptional. 



At the top of the head are a couple of " blow- 

 holes," through which, when he rises to the sur- 

 face, he breathes. 



In colouring he is black above, white below. 

 A skin about one inch thick covers enormous 

 masses of fat, more than a foot in thickness ; a 

 fine warm blanket to guard him from cold, but 

 also, unfortunately for the whale, an attraction to 

 human beings, for the sake of the oil which it 

 yields. The outer skin is often thickly over- 

 grown with masses of barnacles. 



Perhaps the most singular thing about this 

 great creature is that it has no teeth, and that it 

 feeds in consequence upon the lightest possible 

 fare. 



In place of teeth, inside the mouth are massive 

 fringes of whalebone plates, side by side, smooth 

 on the outer side towards the lips, but covered 



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