CHAPTER XIV 



THE OCEAN MAMMALS 

 BY W. T. GRENPELL 



To compensate the Labradormen in some small degree for 

 the loss of herring and the depreciation of salmon, a whale- 

 fishery has sprung up. The great success made in killing 

 sulphur-bottom, finback, and humpback whales, in North 

 Newfoundland, led to a hope of great things from them for 

 Labrador. But the numbers killed have been very limited. 1 

 The whales themselves are, however, so intensely interesting, 

 it is worth while referring to the various sorts one is liable 

 to see in Labrador. 



The whale is, of course, really a land animal, but he has 

 left his native element, and taken to a roving, nautical life. 

 Now his legs are not necessary for locomotion ; hence they 

 have become rudimentary and are enclosed in his thick, 

 rubbery, oily skin. The arms are not used in swimming, 

 but simply for preserving the animal's balance or for 

 grasping the baby whale when it is in danger. 



Of all the adaptations of these strange beasts to their 

 environment, perhaps none is more remarkable than the 

 arrangement for hearing. The whale has no need of the 

 sense of smell, but he does need to hear the approach of an 



1 In reading the records of the Moravian Missions for the years 

 1780 to 1850, one is greatly struck by the number of dead whales men- 

 tioned as having been discovered, from time to time, on the coast. 



352 



