Aquatic Mammals 231 



buoyancy. In semi-aquatic animals, 

 such as the hippopotamus, the nostrils 

 are set as high up in the nasal region as 

 possible in fact, on the top of the head 

 but in the whales, which live almost 

 entirely under water, they are literally 

 disposed between the eyes. The hot 

 breath from these nostrils condenses in 

 cold air, hence the spouting, a whale's 

 breath looking like a jet of steam sud- 

 denly erupting from a geyser. If a little 

 sea water gets in the way of this vapour 

 a waterspout is formed. Whales are the 

 largest animals known, some measuring 

 over 100 feet in length, and only some 

 of the extinct Dinosaurs exceed them in 

 length. They, however, hold their own 

 in bodily bulk. 



The Whalebone Whales, once so much 

 in demand for corsets, frequent the 

 Arctic Circle, the " bone " being merely 

 a curious development of the palate that 

 acts as a " soup strainer/' the " soup " 



