THE SPOUTING AND MOVEMENTS OF WHALES. 639 



expiration and inspiration, respective!}', are shorter than the first expi- 

 ration after sounding and the last inspiration before sounding, and 

 these respiratory acts are less deep; (2) the interval between reappear- 

 ances is very short; (3) the animal dives only to a slight depth, a few 

 meters at most, and generally it keeps immediately below the surface; 

 (4) the posterior part of the body is always invisible; (o) the whale 

 during the time it remains under water progresses quite rapidly, 

 usually in a straight line, but sometimes in a circle when in a narrow 

 bay where space is limited. 



The ol>ject of these movements is easy to understand. The cetacean 

 does what all diving animals do. Before plunging, for a very long 

 time, it makes many rapid respirations, which permit it to reoxygenate 

 its blood, which has become more or less carbonated since the last 

 sounding; it also permits the animal to surcharge its blood with oxy- 

 gen for the succeeding immersion. It follo^vs that the cetaceans which 

 make the greatest number of ordinary- inspirations before sounding 

 are those which should be able to dive deepest, or at least those which 

 should be able to remain longest under water. In this regard it is the 

 sperm whale which appears to hold the record, for its divings inter- 

 mediate between soundings are very numerous^ — 60 or TO, says Beale 

 (1839) — and it is also the whale which remains submerged longest, an 

 hour and ten minutes to an hour and twenty minutes, or rarelj^ an hour 

 in the case of large males. The long submersion should be very 

 important for this whale to enable it to procure its food, which con- 

 sists of large cuttle-fish, animals living at a great depth, the pursuit of 

 which must be long and arduous. 



The habits of the bottle-nosed whales {Ilypei^oodon) are similar to 

 those of the sperm whale, and the number of immersions intermediate 

 between two soundings is very large among them also, as will be seen 

 later. 



D. — SOUNDING. 



When the animal has its store of oxygen, it makes a very deep 

 inspiration in order to carry with it as large a quantity of air as 

 possible. In this also, the cetaceans are not exceptional, but follow 

 the course of all diving animals. The back of the whale is shown 

 immediatel}^, much higher above the surface than in intermediate 

 immersions. The curve formed by the dorsal line is very convex, the 

 rotating movement more pronounced, and the back disappears from 

 the anterior part to the posterior part. What follows is character- 

 istic for each species. The right whales, the humpbacks, and the 

 sperm whales show their flukes above water; at this time the head 

 is directed downward and the axis of the bod}' obliquely. The flukes 

 are waved in the air two or three times and the animal disapj)ears. 

 The finbacks do not show their flukes, but describe a strong- curve 



