THE WOLF OF THE SEA 



their story by saying that a swordfish must have been 

 below, otherwise the whale would have sounded. Un- 

 doubtedly what prevents the whale from diving is the 

 fact that it becomes paralyzed with fright and so ut- 

 terly confused that it is unable to escape. 



An orca probably could not kill a large whale alone, 

 but single individuals undoubtedly cause all the fin 

 whales great annoyance by biting off the tips of their 

 flukes and flippers; at least two-thirds of the whales 

 brought to the stations had the flukes or flippers in- 

 jured. I have a photograph of a young finback whale 

 with the flipper torn and mangled and plainly showing 

 a killer's teeth marks. 



The sperm whale is probably the only marine ani- 

 mal which is more than a match for a herd of killers. 

 The enormous lower jaw ofj a sperm whale presents 

 an array of teeth even more formidable than those 

 of the orca, and I greatly doubt if the killer could 

 succeed in terrifying this whale; it is significant that 

 the flukes and flippers of sperms are practically al- 

 ways free from injuries. 



Like other members of the dolphin family, the killer 

 has twelve teeth in both jaws and they may be 

 readily distinguished from those of the sperm whale 

 by their smaller size and flatter basal portion. 



