168 The Story of the New England Whalers 



over it just as it does over a stone in a shallow 

 stream. . . . Their course below the water can 

 often be traced by their eddy. This is caused 

 by the movement of the tail. . . . They turn 

 around before coming to the surface to blow, 

 and lie for a short time to lick the food off their 

 bone before going away for another mouthful." 

 Whales vary much in size even when adult. 

 According to Whales and Porpoises, by George 

 Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution (p. 9), "The largest sperm 

 males measure from 80 to 84 feet in length, the 

 head making up about one-third of the whole. 

 The youngest sperm whale on record is one measur- 

 ing sixteen feet, taken near New Bedford in 1842; 

 its weight was 3050 pounds." The female sperm 

 is small, being from one-fifth to one-fourth the 

 size of the male. The record sperm whale re- 

 ported at New Bedford was captured by Captain 

 Owen H. Tilton. It produced 154 barrels of 

 oil. Captain C. Allen saved one that produced 

 150 barrels. The usual product is from forty 

 to fifty barrels, but many are taken that yield 

 from 80 to 100 barrels. The length of a com- 

 mon sperm whale is from forty to fifty feet. 



