A WHALE'S TONGUE 



of the fins and flukes more or less torn; in several 

 specimens fresh teeth marks were plainly visible where 

 the fin had been shredded as the whale drew it out of 

 the orca's mouth. 



Although none of the gray whales exhibited teeth 

 marks on other parts of the body, undoubtedly some 

 of them are killed by the orcas. A female killer 

 which was brought in had several pieces of flesh in its 

 stomach, besides a strip of whalebone three inches 

 long. I could not positively identify the latter but 

 believe it to have been from a small devilfish. A male 

 killer was taken at the same time by Captain Hurum, 

 who told me that in the animal's death flurry it had 

 thrown up two great chunks of flesh. 



Captain Melsom brought a gray whale to the sta- 

 tion one day and I found that the tongue was almost 

 gone. He said he had passed a school of killers in the 

 morning and later, after steaming about fifteen miles, 

 had killed the devilfish. A short time afterward, a 

 long distance away, he saw the fins of a school of 

 killers which were coming at full speed straight for 

 the ship. They circled about the vessel and one of 

 them forced open the mouth of the dead whale to get 

 at the tongue. Captain Melsom fired at the killer with 

 his Krag rifle and when struck the animal lashed out 

 w T ith its flukes, smashing the ship's rail, and then dis- 

 appeared. 



As soon as orcas appear, if the gray whales are 

 not paralyzed by fright, they head for shore and slide 

 in as close as possible to the beach where sometimes 

 the killers will not follow them. The devilfish will 



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