WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



may get away by leaping over the net or attempting to dive 

 under it. The former can be prevented to some extent by 

 sending a boat to the outer curve of the net, which serves 

 to keep the animals from charging against it. Some of those 

 that attempt to dive underneath become enmeshed and, being 

 air breathers, are soon drowned. Thirty-three porpoises 

 were beached in the haul of the seine which provided our 

 specimens. The greatest number taken in a single year ap- 

 pears to have been fifteen hundred. 



Porpoises are valuable for their jaw oil, hides and body 

 blubber, the value of each being in the order given. The 

 oil derived from the jaws represents the greater part of 

 the value, being worth ordinarily twenty dollars a gallon, 

 refined. It is extracted from the broad posterior branches 

 of the lower jaw, and is universally used for the lubri- 

 cation of watches, clocks and similarly delicate mechanisms. 

 An attempt was made at the Hatteras fishery to utilize the 

 carcasses of these animals for fertilizer, but, as the location 

 is isolated, the question of fuel for the furnace proved too 

 serious and the project was abandoned. 



The Bottlenosed Porpoise (Tursiops truncatus} is the 

 only species of porpoise that has ever been taken at the 

 Hatteras fishery. Our eight-foot specimens represent the 

 average size. A number of animals were measured in No- 

 vember, however, which exceeded nine feet in length. The 

 greatest length for this species at Hatteras is twelve feet, 

 but this is altogether unusual. Measurements and weights 

 taken in November show that a porpoise five and a half 

 feet long weighs 100 pounds; six feet, 160 pounds; seven 

 feet, 200 pounds; and eight feet, 300 pounds. 



The movement of porpoises along the great beach which 

 extends in a general southwesterly direction from Cape 

 Hatteras is usually close to the surf. The bands appear 

 to move in both directions. Residents of Hatteras are of 

 the opinion that the majority of those in the vicinity of 

 Hatteras Inlet move to the eastward, turning south from 



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