414 



WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



The average human being finds himself taxed to the 

 utmost to remain under water for a minute, and even those 

 who have specially developed the capacity of their lungs 

 cannot remain for longer than from two and a half to three 

 minutes. The ability of the Whale to exist for as long as 

 an hour without breathing does not depend upon an 

 abnormal development of the lungs, for an hour's supply of 

 air would occupy the space of several large balloons, and 

 would give more aid in flying than in sinking. 



The object of respiration is to purify the blood (see 

 p. 24), without which the whole nervous system would 

 become paralysed and death would ensue. It is impossible 

 for the Whale to take a supply of air down into the depths 

 of the ocean ; but it can take down a supply of purified 

 blood upon which it can draw and gradually substitute for 

 the fluid which has been robbed of its life-giving qualities. 

 In addition to ordinary arteries and veins, the Whale 

 possesses a blood reservoir called the intercostal plexus, 

 which is a vast mass of small tubes which are neither veins 

 nor arteries. 



' Spouting ' or * blowing ' is but the operation of purifying 

 the reservoir of blood. When the animal comes to the 

 surface, after submergence, it first expels the air in its lungs, 

 with which it connects the plexus as it takes its first deep 

 breath. By repeated expirations and inspirations the 

 Whale restores purity to the blood in the plexus, and then 

 breathes quietly like any other mammal. The fountain-like 

 appearance of spouting is easily explainable. The ejected 

 air is saturated with hot water vapour which the cold 

 external air at once condenses into a column of steam or 

 spray ; but not infrequently the Whale commences blowing 

 before it actually reaches the surface, and then the column 

 is reinforced by the addition of a considerable amount of 

 sea water. 



An oft repeated question is, Could a Whale swallow 

 Jonah ? Putting aside the meaning of the word which is 

 rendered as ' fish ' in the Old Testament, and as ' whale ' in 

 the New, let us view Whales as they really are. It may be 

 accepted as a fact that a fish no larger than a good-sized 

 herring would choke a Greenland Whale. In the case of 



