SOME INTERESTING HABITS 



at least two hours. Suddenly, not more than two 

 hundred fathoms in front of the ship, four hump- 

 backs spouted and began to feed. They remained for 

 almost half an hour in our immediate vicinity, wal- 

 lowing about at the surface, and then, as at a signal, 

 arched their backs, drew out their flukes, and sounded. 

 They rose again about half a mile away, spouted a 

 few times and disappeared. 



There is not one chance in ten that those whales 

 could have blown within five miles of the ship, when 

 they first appeared, without being seen. The ocean 

 was as calm as a millpond and the sun so brilliant 

 that the spouts glittered like a cloud of silver dust 

 thrown into the air. From the masthead I could 

 see for miles and had, moreover, been watching the 

 water in every direction as the porpoises circled and 

 played about the ship. 



Practically the same thing has been reported to me 

 at various times from other localities. Captain Gra- 

 hame said that in Alaska at a certain place in Fred- 

 erick Sound a school of finbacks used to appear sud- 

 denly every day about four o'clock in the afternoon. 

 The whalemen seemed to be of the opinion that the 

 animals had been under the water for some hours, 

 perhaps sleeping on the bottom. 



From what is known of the physiology of ceta- 

 ceans this is highly improbable if not actually im- 

 possible. To me the most reasonable explanation 

 seems to be the one advanced by Rocovitza, viz., that 

 some species of whales frequently swim long dis- 

 tances at considerable speed without appearing to 



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