WHALES AND PORPOISES 25 



Indeed, there is an undoubted similarity in shape between the dolphin's head 

 and beak and a duck's. This mammal is unique in possessing more teeth 

 than any other sometimes as many as sixty-five on each side of the jaws. 

 It has also a much bolder eye than the Porpoise, and is far more handsome in 

 colour, having a black back, yellowish stripes on the sides, and white under 

 parts. It often appears to have an iridescent sheen whilst alive. Its average 

 length is from 6 to 8 feet, and it may often be seen in the English Channel, 

 with sportive gambols accompanying the ships in herds. Its food is herrings, 

 mackerel, and other small fish. It is notable for its remarkable care for the 

 single young one produced at birth. Like the Porpoise, it is said to possess a 

 voice, with which it produces a gentle lowing sound. Occasional specimens 

 of a larger species, the BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN (Tursiops tursio) so called 

 from its shorter beak are found round the coasts. 



6. The Sperm Whale, or CACHALOT (Physeter macrocephalus), attains a length, 

 in the male of some 60 feet at greatest, in the female of some 30 feet, and has 

 an enormous head about one-third of the whole length. It is from this whale 

 that spermaceti and ambergris are chiefly obtained, and in consequence of 

 this, together with the oil made from the blubber, it has been hunted down 

 almost to extinction, so that its appearance off Great Britain is to-day rare 

 compared with former centuries. It feeds on cuttle-fish and squids, as well 

 as on other fish. 



7. The Common Beaked, or Bottle-nosed, Whale (Hyperoodon rostratus) is 

 common round the Shetlands, and is frequently seen off Norfolk and in the 

 Bristol Channel. Its length is from 20 to 30 feet, and, as its name implies, 

 it has a short beak and a large, " lumpy " head. It does not go about in 

 herds, but singly or in pairs. 



8. Sowerby's Whale (Mesoplodon bidens) has two of its teeth, in the middle 

 of the lower jaw, prolonged into tusks. It is some 15 feet long, and is occa- 

 sionally stranded or captured off these shores ; its home is the Atlantic. 



We now pass on to the Whalebone Whales, divided at the present day into 

 two families the " Right " Whales and the Rorquals. 



9. The Right Whale so called by the whalers, in contradistinction to all 

 others, as being most valuable for oil and whalebone is in its prototype, the 

 GREENLAND WHALE, almost extinct, and even the SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE 

 (Balcena australis), which was once an inhabitant of the Channel and the 

 North Sea, is now practically so ; but the Rorquals are still represented by 

 various species. 



10. The Hump-backed Whale (Megaptera boops) is often seen off the East 

 Coast of Scotland and the North of Ireland. This species eats larger molluscs 

 and crustaceans than the Right Whales. 



n. The Common Rorqual (Balanoptera musculus) may grow to a length 

 of 70 feet, the female being the larger of the two sexes. It is blackish grey 

 above, and white or yellowish white below. It feeds on small fish as well as 

 on the crustaceans and molluscs, and is frequently seen in the English and 



