CHAPTER XVI 



HOW KILLERS TEAR OUT A GRAY WHALE'S 

 TONGUE 



THE gray whales, as well as other large ce- 

 taceans, have only two enemies man and one 

 of their own kind, the orca or killer whale. 

 Although twice the size of the killers and correspond- 

 ingly strong, when one of the orcas appears the devil- 

 fish become terrified and either wildly dash for shore 

 or turn belly up at the surface, with fins outspread, 

 paralyzed by fright. 



A few days after my arrival at Ulsan, three gray 

 whales were brought to the station, one of which had 

 half the tongue torn away; teeth marks clearly showed 

 in the remaining portion and Captain Hurum, who 

 had killed the animals, told me that it was the work of 

 killers. 



There were seven gray whales in the school, he said, 

 and shortly after he began to hunt them fifteen killers 

 appeared. The whales became terrified at once and 

 he had no difficulty in killing three of the seven. 

 When the orcas gathered the w r hales turned belly up 

 and made not the slightest attempt to get away. 

 A killer w r ould put its snout against the closed lips 

 of the devilfish and endeavor to force the mouth open 

 and its own head inside. This extraordinary method 

 of attack was corroborated by Captain Johnson, who 



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