ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



BULLETIN 



Published by the Neiv York Zoological Society 



Vol. XVI 



NOVEMBER, 1913 



Number 60 



THE PORPOISE IN CAPTIVITY 



THE Bottle-nosed Porpoise received from 

 Cape Hatteras on April 25, lived in the 

 large pool at the Aquarium for two and 

 a half months, when it died from injuries 

 received at the time of its capture. We are 

 firmly of the opinion that had our instructions 

 been carried out, this animal and the five 

 others captured with it, would be alive today 

 and a constant source of interest to visitors 

 in the Aquarium. 



The Director left New York on receipt of 

 a telegram that the porpoises were beached. 

 On arrival he found that contrary to instruc- 

 tions they had been left out of water two 

 days, and four of them had died. The two 

 exhausted survivors were immediately placed 

 in a large tank, where they soon revived. 

 Like those which had already died, both were 

 covered with great blisters as a result of 

 heating while out of water. One died the 

 day after arrival in New York, while the 

 other began to feed and soon became lively. 

 Its blisters did not heal, however, but de- 

 veloped into sores which it could not survive. 



The porpoise was always active, swimming 

 day and night about the pool, which is thirty 

 feet in diameter. It seized the live fishes 

 thrown to it as soon as they struck the water, 

 seldom making a miss. It soon learned to 

 eat dead fish of any kind available. 



Judging from the ease with which the 

 porpoise can be shipped in tanks of water, 

 and the comparatively long life of our badly 

 injured specimen, there is reason to believe 

 that it can endure captivity if properly 

 treated. 



We are now prepared to try again as soon 

 as the Hatteras porpoise fishery resumes 

 operations. It is needless to say that future 

 specimens will be personally conducted from 

 the moment of their capture and placed in 

 tanks of water where their temperature can 

 be kept normal. Transportation and feeding 

 in captivity apparently present no difficulties. 



The specimens secured for the Aquarium 

 were presented by Mr. Joseph K. Nye of 

 New Bedford, the proprietor of the porpoise 

 fishery at Hatteras. They were transported 

 to the Aquarium by the New York Zoological 

 Society. The only species of porpoise taken 

 at Hatteras is Tursiops tarsio. It is valuable 

 for oil and leather. The oil derived from the 

 head is especially valuable, being worth $20.00 

 a gallon refined. It is used chiefly for watches 

 and other delicate mechanisms. Porpoise 

 hide is used for shoe strings, pocket books, 

 hand bags and other light leather articles. 

 Several hundred porpoises are taken annually 

 from October to April. The greatest number 

 taken in one year was one thousand. Por- 

 poises are taken at Hatteras with large seines 

 which are quietly drawn around them as they 

 pass along shore in large or small bands just 

 outside the surf. The haul lines are then 

 brought ashore and the net beached. During 

 the season porpoises move along shore every 

 day, and the hunters go out whenever the 

 surf is low enough for the safe and efficient 

 handling of the boats. The largest animals 

 taken do not exceed twelve feet, and porpoises 

 of that length are unusual. Our specimen 

 was seven feet, eight inches long and weighed 

 two hundred and eleven pounds at death. 



