THE OPEN SEA 79 



Greenland or "right" whale, right from the 

 whaler's point of view. 



The whale is fish-like in shape; it has fore- 

 fins like a fish, and it swims by means of its 

 powerful fish-like tail. Yet, though we talk 

 of whale " fishery," we all know that a whale 

 is not a fish but a mammal, that is, a warm- 

 blooded animal that breathes by lungs, and 

 gives suck to its young. Naturalists have been 

 able to show, from a study of the whale's own 

 body and the bodies of its fossil relatives, that 

 the ancestors of the whale were land mammals, 

 and that, in taking to the sea, they lost many 

 of the old characters of their race and acquired 

 others more suited to their new mode of life. 



The body is now fish-like because that is 

 the shape most suitable for cleaving the water; 

 the fore-limbs are flippers or paddles, yet 

 within them "the whole inherited but greatly 

 shortened skeleton of the mammalian forearm 

 lies concealed." The hind-limbs were no 

 longer of use, so they disappeared, but traces 

 of their bones can still be found hidden be- 

 neath the blubber; the skin has lost its hair, 

 except for a few very sensitive vibrissae or 

 whiskers about the mouth, but indications of 

 hair can be seen in the developing young; and 



