148 WHALES AND PORPOISES 



shallow water. Its color is slaty gray, variegated with ir- 

 regular white markings, and its length is from 15 to 20 feet. 



The Killer 'Whale," or Orca, 1 is the demon of the 

 seas. This creature has the appetite of a hog, the cruelty 

 of a wolf, the courage of a bulldog and the most terrible 

 jaws afloat. Its teeth are surpassed in size only by those of 

 the sperm whale. It attacks whales of the largest size, and 

 devours sea-lions, seals and small porpoises as a hungry 

 longshoreman destroys saddle-rock oysters. 



A full-grown Killer is from 16 to 20 feet in length, and 

 can always be recognized by the great height of its back fin. 

 The all-black High-Finned Killer, of the Pacific only, has a 

 back fin six feet high. The colors of Orcinus orca are those 

 of the pirate's flag of skull-and-cross-bones, — black and white, 

 disposed as shown in the accompanying illustration. This 

 species is found on both coasts of North America and in the 

 Arctic Ocean. 



The following quotation from Captain Scammon is the 

 testimony of an eye-witness of the Orca in action: 



'Three or four of these voracious animals do not hesitate 

 to grapple with the largest baleen whale. The attack of these 

 wolves of the ocean upon their gigantic prey may be likened 

 in some respects to a pack of hounds holding a stricken deer 

 at bay. They cluster about the animal's head, some of their 

 number breaching over it, while others seize it by the lips, 

 and draw the bleeding monster under water; and when 

 captured, should the mouth be open, they eat out its tongue. 



' We once saw an attack made by three Killers upon a cow 



1 Or-ci'nus or'ca. 



