340 THE WHALES, DOLPHINS AND MANATEES 



pilchard, as it is a true fish-feeder. Its average length is four 

 or five feet, though it often measures more: The colour slightly 

 varies with age and sex; usually it is a polished bluish-black 

 tint on the upper parts, merging into a pink or mottled grey or 

 whitish beneath. The head is roundish, and the dorsal fin and 

 flippers are both of moderate dimensions. 



The Killer Whale, or Orca (Orca gladiator), ranges in size from 

 eighteen to thirty feet in length, and its fierceness and voracity 

 are unbounded, so that it is feared not only by the porpoises, 

 white whales, seals and sea-lions, and the Walrus, but even by 

 the great sperm and Greenland whales. Three or four Killer 

 Whales will not hesitate to grapple with the largest baleen whale, 

 and literally tear it to pieces. They haunt the Pacific sealing- 

 grounds, where they continually swim about and swoop down 

 and carry off the unwary youngsters ; and so fierce are they 

 that even the usually pugnacious large male sea-lions hastily 

 retreat ashore and give them a wide berth. The great swiftness 

 of these Killer Whales is best realised by the fact that they pursue 

 and overtake the quick-swimming dolphins, literally swallowing 

 them alive. They are not gregarious in the sense of being found 

 in large herds, but follow their prey in small squads. They have 

 an evenly rounded head, blunter than the porpoise's, and the upper 

 Jaw is a trifle longer than the lower. Their flippers are broad and 

 oval-shaped, and what renders them peculiar and easily recognised 

 is their greatly lengthened dorsal fin. Though slightly varying 

 in colour, they are usually glossy black above and white below. 

 Their capacious mouth is provided with eleven or twelve teeth on 

 each side of both jaws, and each tooth is most powerful, conical 

 and slightly recurved. 



The Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) averages six to 

 eight feet in length, and is black above and brilliantly white be- 

 neath ; the teeth vary in number from forty to fifty on either 

 side of both upper and lower jaws. Dolphins feed on fish, 

 medusae, and crustaceans, and habitually congregate in large herds. 

 They are frequently seen off our coasts, and seem to take a delight 

 in following and gambolling around vessels. Indeed, it is a most 

 delightful and interesting sight to watch their frolics from the 

 deck of a ship, as for an hour or two, or even longer, they will 

 play a sort of game of follow-my-leader round the vessel, jumping, 



