HOW BALEEN WHALES GET THEIR FOOD 141 
the group known as pteropods (ter’o-pods) which float in 
myriads on or near the surface of the sea. To enable the sea- 
monster to feed upon these very small organisms, and secure 
them in a wholesale way, the roof of the mouth is provided 
with two great masses of thin, horny plates set edgewise on 
each side, and very close together. The lower edges of these 
plates (of ‘““whalebone”’) are frayed out into a mass of what 
looks like coarse, bristly hair, and these frayed edges unite 
into a web of filaments as long and as wide as the whole in- 
side of the mouth. 
In feeding, the whale swims through a mass of floating 
pteropods, with its mouth open; and the fringe of the baleen, 
hanging down upon the sides of the lower jaw, forms a perfect 
strainer for catching even the smallest creatures afloat. The 
pteropeds gather in a mass on the tongue, and presently are 
swallowed. When the mouth is shut, the plates of baleen 
fold in diagonally. 
Captain David Gray has stated that sometimes the 
whale finds its food under water, at a depth of from sixty to 
ninety feet. In gathering it the animal dives, holds its 
breath like any air-breathing animal, and after an interval 
reappears at the surface to breathe, swallow the food collected, 
and rest before diving again. When whales are feeding in 
this manner, it is comparatively easy for whalers to approach 
them within striking distance and harpoon them. 
One of the most astonishing statements recorded of this 
animal is that sometimes when harpooned, and sometimes in 
sport as well, it leaps out of the water for practically its entire 
length! Captain Scammon states that a pair of Sulphur- 
