ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1083 



A DECK LOAD OF PORI'OISK TANKS; DISMAL SWAMP CANAL 



but even then some of the porpoises ma}' get 

 away by leaping over the net or attempting to 

 dive under it. The former can be prevented to 

 some extent by sending a boat to the outer 

 curve of the net, which serves to keep the por- 

 poises from crowding against it. Some of those 

 that attempt to dive underneath become en- 

 meshed and, being air breathers, are soon 

 drowned. 



Thirty-three porpoises were beached in the 

 haul of the seine which provided our specimens. 

 Although porpoises have been taken at Cape 

 Hatteras from time immemorial, the fishery has 

 been conducted in a merely desultory manner, 

 with but little capital invested. The greatest 

 number taken in a single year appears to have 

 been about one thousand. Porpoises are valu- 

 able for their jaw oil, body blubber and hides, 

 the value of each being in the order given. The 

 oil derived from the jaws represents the great- 

 er part of the value, being worth ordinarily 

 twenty-five dollars a gallon. This oil is ex- 

 tracted from the broad posterior branches of 

 the lower jaw. It is jjractically the only oil 

 used for the lubrication of watches and similar- 

 ly delicate mechanisms. 



The bottle-nosed porpoise (Tursiops tiirsio), 

 is the only species of porpoise that has ever 

 been taken at the Hatteras fishery. Our eight- 



foot specimens represent the average size. A 

 number of specimens were measured in Novem- 

 ber, however, which exceeded nine feet in 

 length. The greatest length for this species 

 at Cape Hatteras is twelve feet, but this is 

 altogether unusual. The specimens were pre' 

 sented on the beach at Hatteras by Mr. Joseph 

 K. Nye, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the 

 proprietor of the fishery. They were trans- 

 ferred to New York at the expense of the 

 New York Zoological Society. 



The porpoise exhibit in the New York 

 Aquarium is absolutely unique. No other aqua- 

 rium in America or Europe is fitted with pools 

 large enough to accommodate porpoises, and it 

 is doubtful if there are at the present time 

 any other specimens in captivity. 



Our bottle-nosed porpoise {Tnrsiops tiirsio) 

 closely resembles Delphinus delphis, a species 

 of porpoise or dolphin more abundant in the 

 eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean than 

 along our coast. The latter is the dolphin 

 known to the ancients, and which, for unknown 

 reasons, has been systematically caricatured b}' 

 painters and sculptors since the very begin- 

 nings of art. Sculptors now have an oppor- 

 tunity to visit the Aquarium and see what the 

 real dolphin looks like. 



