174 The Story of the New England Whalers 



it stands perpendicularly on its head, and drops 

 swiftly down. It remains out of sight, pre- 

 sumably searching or waiting for food, for an 

 hour or an hour and a quarter. 



The bowhead whale, found along the Arctic 

 ice, when undisturbed, comes to the surface, 

 "spouts" from six to nine times, dips down and 

 pursues its food for fifteen or twenty minutes, 

 and then comes up again. 



"They will go on in this way feeding for 

 an hour or more," said Captain Gray, already 

 quoted. "After that they will disappear under 

 the nearest ice and sleep there until they come 

 out for exercise or for another meal. Unlike 

 other warm-blooded animals they do not require 

 to breathe through their nostrils while asleep, 

 and they do not do so. Whales can sleep as 

 well under water as they do upon the surface, 

 as I have often seen them disappear under solid 

 ice and remain there for many hours at a time. 

 Sometimes they also fall asleep with their heads 

 down and only their tails out of water." 



It is apparent from this that when sleeping 

 these whales do not inhale any air. Captain 

 Gray continues : 



