150 



OEDERS OF .^lA^IMALS-^WlIALES AXD PORPOISES 



The following quotation from Captain Scam- 

 mon is the testimony of an eye-witness of the 

 Orca in action ; 



"Three or fom- of these voracious animals do 

 not hesitate to grapple with the largest baleen 

 whale. The attack of these wolves of the ocean 

 upon their gigantic prey may be likened in some 

 respects to a pack of hounds holding a stricken 

 deer at bay. They cluster about the animal's 

 head, some of their number breaching over it, 

 while others seize it by the lips, and draw the 

 bleeding monster under water; and when capt- 



to the bottom where the water was five fathoms 

 deep. During the struggle the mother became 

 nearly exhausted, having received several deep 

 wounds about the mouth and lips. As soon as 

 their prize had settled to the bottom, the three 

 Killers descended, bringing up large pieces of 

 flesh in their mouths, which they devoured after 

 coming to the surface. While gorging them- 

 selves in this wise, the old whale made her 

 escape, leaving a track of gory water behind." 



The swiftness of the Killer is very great, and 

 to all small Cetaceans this savage monster is a 



CALIFORNIA (iRAY W' HALES ATTACKED lU" KILLERS. 

 Drawn by .J. Caetbk Beard, from Captuin Scanimoii's narrative. 



ured, should the mouth be open, they eat out 

 its tongue. 



"We once saw an attack made by three Kill- 

 ers upon a cow whale and her calf, in a lagoon 

 on the coast of California, in the spring of 1S.58. 

 The whale was of the California gray species, 

 and her young was grown to three times the bulk 

 of the largest Killers engaged in the contest, 

 which lasted an hour or more. They made al- 

 ternate assaults U]3on the old whale and her 

 offspring, finally killing the latter, which sank 



genuine terror. An eminent naturalist named 

 D. F. Eschricht, who devoted much attention to 

 the Cetaceans, states that he knew one of these 

 animals to capture and swallow ahve, and in 

 (|uick succession, four small porpoises, while 

 from the stomach of another Killer, but sixteen 

 feet long, were taken fourteen seals! In Bering 

 Sea the Killer destroys large numbers of fur 

 seals, and when walruses were plentiful, even 

 made war on them, also. On the Atlantic coast, 

 it was, until recently, a common occurrence for 



