WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



again headfirst instead of falling back helplessly on 

 their sides. 



The animals are gregarious and usually travel in 

 herds of five to ten individuals; more than ten are 

 rare, but many different schools may be in sight at 

 the same time, separated from each other by only a 

 short distance. The old bulls sometimes lead a soli- 

 tary life, but herds of young bulls, cows, and calves, 

 led by a bull, are often seen. 



The differences of age and sex can easily be de- 

 termined both by the color and the shape of the head. 

 The young vary from black to light brown in the 

 older individuals and females, and old bulls are often 

 almost yellow, with much white about the head and 

 neck. 



The mating period appears to be in April or May 

 and the period of gestation about twelve months, 

 although there is little definite information concerning 

 breeding habits. Like all cetaceans, the young are very 

 large at birth, and Captain Gray writes that from a 

 female bottlenose twenty-nine feet long he removed 

 a foetus ten feet in length by five feet six inches in cir- 

 cumference. A foetus of slightly larger size has also 

 been recorded by Guldberg. 



The hearing of the bottlenose is very acute and 

 a school of whales will detect the sound of a ship's 

 propeller at a long distance, but instead of being 

 frightened, the animals often surround the ship or 

 boats and exhibit the greatest curiosity; nor will they 

 leave until they have thoroughly examined the strange 

 object. 



262 



