560 



THE WHALES. 



The muscles are simple, in accordance with the 

 proportions of the animal, and exceedingly vigorous. 

 The bulk of the brain and nerves is Very small. In a 

 Whale of twenty feet in length and ten thousand 

 pounds in weight, the brains did not weigh four 

 pounds: that is, not more than the weight of those of 

 a human being, who seldom attains a weight of two 

 hundred pounds! The development of all organs of 

 sense is apparently deficient. The eyes are small, 

 the ears barely perceptible externally, being, so to 

 speak, rudimentary. Yet one cannot suppose the 

 senses of sight and hearing to be inadequate. All 

 Whales prove that when they are submerged their 

 sight is not only very keen, but is effective at great 

 distances, and also that they hear noises of all kinds. 

 It is only when they are above the water, in the 

 rarer medium of the air, that these senses appear 

 weak. The sense of smell is very deficient. We 

 cannot judge of the taste, but we know that the 

 sense of touch is somewhat developed. 

 The Whale Emi- It is hardly necessary to explain that 



nently Fit for such an organization is eminently 

 Its Habitat. fitted for the aquatic life of the 

 Whales. The horizontal tail-fin admits of easy div- 

 ing or ascent, or the exploration of regions of vary- 

 ing depth. The smoothness of the skin facilitates 

 the progress of the enormous mass through the 

 water, the layer of fat diminishes the weight, com- 

 pensates for the lack of warm, hairy covering and 

 also offers the necessary resistance to the almost 

 incalculable pressure that a Whale has to endure in 

 descending into the depths of the ocean. The ex- 

 tremely capacious lungs permit a prolonged stay 

 under water. 



The Whales shun the proximity of coasts as much 

 as possible: for peril assails them from land. Only 

 a few Dolphins live in fresh water: others occasion- 

 ally penetrate into rivers, but do not usually proceed 

 farther than the influence of the tide is felt. No 

 other Whales leave the salt water, but traverse 

 shorter or greater distances of the ocean with more 

 or less regularity. Eschricht gives the following 

 a-ccount of these migrations: 



General "There are Whales in all oceans; but 



Traits of the no single species has a permanent 

 Whales. place of abode anywhere, having, 



apparently, certain favorite haunts for summer, and 

 others, perhaps very remote, for winter; and after 

 the fashion of migratory animals in general, they 

 traverse more or less definite routes, in spring, from 

 one to the other, and back again in the fall of the 

 year. Like most migratory animals, the Whales are 

 gregarious. Where food is plentiful one often finds 

 hundreds or over a thousand congregated together, 

 not only of one but of different species; and accord- 

 ing to the testimony of inhabitants of coasts, the 

 numerous migrating 'schools' are sometimes joined 

 by a few animals of entirely different orders." 



All Whales are highly active animals. They are 

 masterly swimmers, evincing in the action not the 

 slightest effort, and some displaying incomparable 

 speed. When they wish to do so, they exhibit such 

 an extraordinary strength of the powerful tail -fin 

 that they can jerk themselves above the water, in 

 spite of the enormous weight of the body, and 

 take long leaps. Generally they keep near the 

 surface of the water, and perhaps they descend 

 into great depths only when wounded. The upper 

 stratum of the water is their proper element, as they 

 have to expose their heads and parts of their backs 

 to breathe. This latter process is accomplished in 



the following manner: the Whale blows up the water 

 which has entered the imperfectly closed nostrils, 

 with a snorting noise and such force that it is sepa- 

 rated into fine drops, and yet is thrown to a height 

 of five or six yards. This breathing jet may best 

 be likened to a column of vapor, escaping from a 

 narrow pipe; the snorting also resembles the noise 

 caused by escaping steam. A jet of water such as 

 is given forth by a fountain is never thrown up by a 

 Whale, though most artists thus represent the spout- 

 ing of the animals, and many naturalists still thus 

 describe it. Immediately after the spouting of the 

 water, the animal inhales the air which it requires, 

 with a rapid inspiration, emitting an audible, moan- 

 ing sound, and sometimes it breathes three, four or 

 five times a minute, but the jet is thrown up only at 

 the first time of breathing after rising, though one 

 may, in cool weather, often see lingering in the air 

 the mist produced by the breath. The nostrils are so 

 placed that the Whale, in rising, elevates them above 

 water first, and thus breathing is as easy to it as to 

 other animals. A large Whale, swimming undis- 

 turbed, may pass continuously along the surface 

 from five to fifteen minutes, breathing uniformly, or 

 it may sink slightly below the water after every 

 breath, but sometimes it goes on in this way much 

 longer, until it has satisfied its desire for air. Then 

 it may plunge down and remain invisible for ten or 

 twenty minutes or even longer. The large species 

 may remain under water for from thirty to fifty min- 

 utes, when they are pursued. A harpooned Sperm 

 Whale remained under water for nearly an hour, 

 according to the observation of Pechuel-Loesche; 

 another, which was also injured, remained there for 

 eighty minutes, diving down about three thousand 

 nine hundred feet. When the breathing is stopped, 

 a Whale is asphyxiated just as is any other mammal, 

 and that, too, as the observations of whalers show, in 

 a very short time. The animals also die in a com- 

 paratively brief period when they are on dry land. 

 The Diet and All Whales subsist on animal food. 

 Reproduction of and probably take in plants only by 



Whales. chance; at least more exact observa- 

 tion is required before we can positively assert that 

 one species, namely, the Razorback, browses on the 

 sea-weeds which are often found in its stomach in 

 great quantities, and that a Dolphin eats the fruit 

 fallen into a river. Larger and smaller aquatic ani- 

 mals are the prey after which they strive. The very 

 largest species feed on the very smallest animals, 

 and, vice versa, the smaller ones are the most invet- 

 erate beasts of prey. 



The young Whale is at birth very well developed 

 and is from one-fourth to one-third as long as its 

 mother. The mother tends it with touching tender- 

 ness, risking any danger for its sake and never for- 

 sakes it while it lives. The growth of the young one 

 seems to be comparatively slow. How long the life 

 of the Whale lasts is not known. 

 The, Enemies and The Whales also have their enemies. 

 Pursuit of especially during the early portion 



Whales. Qf their lives. Several species of 

 Sharks, and the Killer-whale are said to regularly 

 hunt for young Whales in the same way in which 

 they attack older ones and then feast on the gigan- 

 tic carcass for days. But Man is a much more 

 deadly enemy to the Whales than any monster of 

 the sea. It is he who has, for over one thousand 

 years, systematically pursued many species of the 

 order, and has nearly exterminated some of them. 

 The Americans became the most diligent whalers. 



