ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

 BULLETIN 



Published by the New York Zoological Society 



Vol XVII 



MARCH, 1911 



Number 2 



AT LAST— A SCHOOL OF PORPOISE 



By C. H. ToWNSEND. 



AFTER several discouraging attempts with 

 animals more or less injured, the Aqua- 

 rium has, not merely a single healthy por- 

 poise, but a school of them. They were re- 

 ceived without injuries of any kind, and have 

 already lived in the building much longer than 

 any single injured specimen hitherto received. 

 After tiiree and a half months in a pool thirt\'- 

 seven feet in diameter and seven feet deep, 

 they continue to be in apparently the best of 

 condition, feeding, leaping, and otherwise dis- 

 porting themselves after the manner of por- 

 poises on the high seas. 



No more popular exhibition of marine life 

 lias ever been made in the Aquarium. To have 

 these lively rangers of the open ocean dwell- 

 ing in our midst is fascinating, and every citi- 

 zen who has failed to pay them a visit should 

 do so at once, for, although present prospects 

 are good, there is no certainty about the fu- 

 ture with wild animals in captivity. 



Two previous attempts were made to bring 

 porpoises from Cape Hatteras. Although ar- 

 rangements for their shipment were perfected, 

 the instructions given were not carried out by 

 tliose to whom the shipments were entrusted. 

 In the first instance all the animals died before 

 they could reach New York, as they were un- 

 fortunately shipped dry and could not survive 

 the journey without the cooling and supporting 

 medium of water. The next attempt, made last 

 June, when the same blunder was made, gave 

 only slightly better results. Four of the six 

 porpoises shipped died between Hatteras and 

 Norfolk, Virginia. At the latter point the ship- 

 ment was met by the Director of the Aqua- 

 rium, who promptly filled the tank containing 



the two survivors with water. One oftlie ani- 

 mals died soon after reacliing New York, but 

 tlie other lived two and a half months, not- 

 withstanding the fact that the heating it had 

 undergone during the first stage of shipment 

 produced numerous festering sores, which 

 t ventually ended its career. 



Firmly believing that plenty of cool water 

 would insure safety during transportation, the 

 Director of the Aquarium went to Hatteras No- 

 vember seventh, to make sure of the details of 

 shipment which, entrusted to others, had been 

 neglected. As far as the adult animals are con- 

 cerned, the results have been satisfactory. 

 There are five adults about eight feet long still 

 living, but the four half-grown porpoises died 

 soon after their arrival in New York. The 

 adults gave no trouble during shipment, while 

 the young were exceedingly restless and con- 

 tinually bruised tliemselves by their struggles 

 in the shipping tanks. 



Porjjoises are warm blooded, blubber-covered 

 mammals and give off so much heat that the 

 water of the shipping tanks becomes actually 

 warm, requiring to be replaced by cold water 

 every five or six hours. Immediately after 

 their capture at Hatteras, where they were 

 dragged on the beach with a seine about a thou- 

 sand feet long, the porpoises were placed for 

 twenty-four hours in a salt water pond just 

 back of the ocean beach. No chances what- 

 ever were taken in the matter of temperature. 

 On the beach their natural heating would no 

 doubt have been accelerated by the hot sun- 

 shine. The following day they were seined out 

 of the pond and placed in the shipping tanks, 

 which were then hoisted on board a schooner 



