WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



edges. I do not believe that this supposition can 

 be correct for the barnacles are embedded too firmly 

 in the blubber to be dislodged by such beating. That 

 the animals come into shallow water and rub against 

 rocks to rid themselves of parasites, as whalemen re- 

 port, seems much more probable. 



The playful disposition of these whales is mani- 

 fested in other ways. Very frequently when a ship 

 is hunting a single humpback the animal will play 

 tag with the vessel. It will come up first on one side 

 and then on the other; "double" under water and 

 rise almost at the stern; thrust its head into the air 

 or plunge along the surface with half the body ex- 

 posed but always just out of range of the harpoon- 

 gun. Sometimes this will last for two or three hours 

 or until the whale is killed ; at others the animal will 

 seem to tire of the game and with a farewell flirt 

 of its tail dive and swim away. 



Captain Scammon says : 



In the mating season they are noted for their amorous 

 antics. At such times their caresses are of the most amus- 

 ing and novel character, and these performances have doubt- 

 less given rise to the fabulous tales of the swordfish and 

 thrasher attacking whales. When lying by the side of each 

 other, the Megapteras frequently administer alternate blows 

 with their long fins, which love-pats may, on a still day, be 

 heard at a distance of miles. They also rub each other 

 with the same huge and flexible arms, rolling occasionally 

 from side to side, and indulging in other gambols which 

 can easier be imagined than described. 1 



1 "The Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North 

 America." By Charles M. Scammon, p. 45. 



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