CHAPTER XIV 
THE OCEAN MAMMALS 
By W. T. GRENFELL 
To compensate the Labradormen in some small degree for 
the loss of herring and the depreciation of salmon, a whale- 
fishery has sprung up. The great success made in killing 
sulphur-bottom, finback, and humpback whales, in North 
Newfoundland, led to a hope of great things from them for 
Labrador. But the numbers killed have been very limited.* 
The whales themselves are, however, so intensely interesting, 
it is worth while referring to the various sorts one is liable 
to see in Labrador. 
The whale is, of course, really a land animal, but he has 
left his native element, and taken to a roving, nautical life. 
Now his legs are not necessary for locomotion; hence they 
have become rudimentary and are enclosed in his thick, 
rubbery, oily skin. The arms are not used in swimming, 
but simply for preserving the animal’s balance or for 
grasping the baby whale when it is in danger. 
Of all the adaptations of these strange beasts to their 
environment, perhaps none is more remarkable than the 
arrangement for hearing. The whale has no need of the 
sense of smell, but he does need to hear the approach of an 
1TIn reading the records of the Moravian Missions for the years 
1780 to 1850, one is greatly struck by the number of dead whales men- 
tioned as having been discovered, from time to time, on the coast. 
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