310 Recreations of a Sportsman 



not the Atlantic Orca gladiator which, Eschricht 

 says, has been seen to " swallow four porpoises, 

 and thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals have 

 been found in the stomach of one individual 

 only sixteen feet long," suggestive of a cheerful 

 appetite. 



Our channel island killer is an attractive ani- 

 mal, jet-black above, lighter below; often mis- 

 taken for the eye and just back of it, is a clear 

 white or maroon spot, a remarkable decoration. 

 The dorsal fin is tall, rigid, and ponderous, es- 

 pecially in the big orca I have so often seen, 

 and directly behind it, and more than half 

 encircling it, is a vivid crescent-shaped maroon 

 band, so like a saddle that it is startling. 



Ordinarily the band of three or four orcas 

 swim lazily up and down the channel about 

 three or four miles offshore, again coming in, 

 and inspecting boats without fear. Once one 

 followed a rowboat so closely that the ladies in 

 it were greatly alarmed; but I fancy the killer's 

 motive was curiosity, or it may have thought the 

 boat a small killer. 



A few years ago the school came within a 

 few hundred feet of Seal Eocks, Santa Catalina, 

 and an angler with Percy Neal, a boatman, 

 hooked the infant of the school, an orca about 

 eight feet long, which leaped into the air when 

 hooked and of course broke away. I have fre- 

 quently followed orcas and attempted to photo- 



