SPERM WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



149 



Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. 

 It is a true pygmy, adult specimens being but 15 

 feet long. They are so rare that their existence 

 in the western Atlantic Ocean was not known 

 until 1883, when a specimen was washed ashore 

 at Spring Lake, New Jersey, and secured by the 

 United States National Museum. 



THE DOLPHIN AND PORPOISE FAMILY. 



Delphinidae. 



This Family contains a number of different 

 groups of animals, some of which are sharply 

 distinct, and are not called by either of those 

 names. The porpoises are distinguished by their 

 blunt noses, and the dolphins by their long, 

 pointed noses and elongated, beak-like jaws. 

 Unfortunately for our purpose, there are a few 

 porpoises with long snouts, and a few dolphins 

 with short, blunt noses; and consequently the 

 two groups run together so confusingly that it 

 is impossible to lay down any rules by which one 

 may always be distinguished from the other. We 

 shall therefore shorten our work by setting forth 

 the species most worth knowing, and leaving the 

 anatomical details of the different genera to be 

 learned in the future. 



The White "Whale," or Beluga, 1 of the upper 

 half of the northern hemisphere, is not really a 

 whale, but a member of the Dolphin Family. It 

 is creamy white all over, and 16 feet long; has 

 several times been exhibited in aquaria and 

 shows, and is known personally to millions of 

 Americans. One of the fine specimens exhibited 

 in the New York Aquarium in 1897 met its death 

 from suffocation caused by a live eel becoming 

 immovably fixed in its blow-hole, and shutting 

 off its breath so suddenly that the mammal died 

 before the fish could be removed. This species 

 ascends the Yukon River, Alaska, for 700 miles, 

 and is also an inhabitant of the St. Lawrence. 

 Dr. Goode states that the food of the White 

 "Whale" consists of such fish as flounders, hali- 

 but, cod, salmon, and eels, and also of squids 

 and prawns. In the St. Lawrence River there 

 is a fishery of considerable importance. 



The Blackfish 3 is not a fish, but a jet black 

 member of the Dolphin Family, 15 to 18 feet 

 long, and is shaped very much like a small sperm 



1 Del-phin-ap'ter-us leu'cas. 



2 Glob-i-ceph'a-la me'las. 



whale. The head has the same square-ended, 

 sawn-off appearance, and a barely perceptible 

 snout. It is one of the most abundant and im- 

 portant of the small cetaceans of the east coast 

 of North America. Thousands of them have 

 been stranded, or deliberately driven into shal- 

 low water, on Cape Cod, sometimes over a hun- 

 dred in one school. The yield of oil from a 

 single Blackfish varies from ten gallons to ten 

 barrels. The jaw yields a fine quality of oil 

 much used for sewing-machines, and known as 

 porpoise-jaw oil. The value of a stranded Black- 

 fish on Cape Cod varies from $5 to $40. (G. 

 Brown Goode.) 



Once on a voyage from South America to New 

 York, we sighted a large school of Blackfish, 

 travelling south, and playing by the way. Some 

 chased each other, lazily, and half a dozen of 

 them stood on their tails in the water, perfectly 

 erect, with their heads six or seven feet high in 

 the air, as if to look at the ship. Those so stand- 

 ing looked like big, black posts, all ready for 

 wharf building. 



The Grampus, or Cow-'Tish," 3 of our At- 

 lantic coast inhabits the same waters as the pre- 

 ceding species, but is not nearly so numerous, nor 

 so stupid in getting stranded in shallow water. 



Its color is slaty gray, variegated with irregu- 

 lar white markings, and its length is from 15 to 

 20 feet. 



The Killer "Whale," or Orca, 4 is the demon 

 of the seas. This creature has the appetite of a 

 hog, the cruelty of a wolf, the courage of a bull- 

 dog, and the most terrible jaws afloat. Its teeth 

 are surpassed in size only by those of the sperm 

 whale. It attacks whales of the largest size, and 

 devours sea-lions, seals and small porpoises as a 

 hungry longshoreman destroys saddle-rock oys- 

 ters. 



A full-grown Killer is from 16 to 20 feet in 

 length, and can always be recognized by the great 

 height of its back fin. The all-black High-Finned 

 Killer, of the Pacific only, has a back fin six feet 

 high. The colors of Orcinus orca are those 

 of the pirate's flag of skull-and-cross-bones, — 

 black and white, disposed as shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration. This species is found 

 on both coasts of North America, and in the 

 Arctic Ocean. 



3 Gram'piis gris'e-us. 



4 Or-ci'nus or'ca. 



