WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE WHALE'S LEGS 



when taken from beneath the whale the poor fellow 

 could hardly be recognized as a human being. 



Kyuquot had trouble, also, when a blanket piece 

 struck a flenser's knife, driving it into his side and 

 injuring him badly. And yet it is surprising what 

 tremendous strength and tenacity the fibrous blubber 

 has. A few inches of it will resist the strain of sev- 

 eral thousand pounds, and I have seen a whale drag 

 a ship through the water for half an hour with only 

 two harpoon prongs caught under the blubber of the 

 back. 



When a female whale is pregnant the blubber is 

 much thicker and softer than at other times and 

 yields a greater supply of oil; from other causes it 

 may also be very thin, and become hard and dry. 

 The blubber varies in color and may be light yel- 

 low, deep pink, or almost white. It is thinnest upon 

 the sides, throat, and breast, and thickest on the "neck" 

 just behind the blowholes, at the dorsal fin, and from 

 that point along the ridge of the back, or "caudal 

 peduncle," almost to the flukes. On the sides an 

 average thickness in the fin whales is six inches, but 

 just behind the dorsal fin it may reach twelve or four- 

 teen inches. 



Since cetaceans live in the water where they do not 

 touch rough surfaces their skins are very soft and 

 smooth; the skin is about half an inch thick and may 

 be separated from the blubber only with difficulty. 

 It is composed of one or more thin outer sheets (epi- 

 dermis) which may be easily stripped off, leaving 

 exposed the tender under layer (dermis). The skin 



153 



