194 The Story of the New England Whalers 



jaw was a puzzling question, until some con- 

 sideration was given to the feeding habits. Ob- 

 servation convinced the whalers that the sperm 

 whale lived chiefly on the sepia octopus, the huge 

 eight-armed creature that seamen called the 

 giant squid. When in their death flurry, sperm 

 whales often throw up the contents of their 

 stomachs. Pieces of sharks and other kinds of 

 fish have been ejected at such times, but pieces 

 of the arms of this octopus were usually seen 

 to the exclusion of other matter. As all fisher- 

 men know, the squid is attracted to any shining 

 substance, like a metal plate, for instance, that 

 is lowered into the water. Now the mouth of 

 the sperm whale is lined with a satinlike mem- 

 brane that glistens with a metallic lustre when 

 exposed under water. Undisturbed whales have 

 often been seen lying at or near the surface with 

 their lower jaws hanging down so that the inside 

 of the mouth was plainly visible. Taking all 

 these facts together, the whalemen came to be- 

 lieve that the sperm whales go into the depths 

 where the giant squid usually passes its life, 

 and when there lie motionless with their mouths 



