TSE killer- WHALES: HABITS AND USES. 17 



6. THE KILLER WHALES OR ORCAS. 



Habits and distribution. — The Killer Whales are known the world over by their destruc- 

 tive and savage habits. Although their strength and speed render :t almost impossible to capture 

 them, they are of importance to the fisherman as enemies of all large sea animals, often putting 

 them to flight at inconvenient times. The Atlantic species, Orca gladiator (Bonnaterre) Gill, was 

 first brought to notice in 1671 in Martens' "Voyage to Spitzbergen." It is often seen on the New 

 England coast in summer, driving before it schools of the blackfisli or othersm all whales : it is a 

 special enemy of the tunny or horse mackerel: Captain Atwood tells of the consternation shown 

 by these enormous fishes when a number of them have gathered in Provincetown Harbor and the 

 Killers come in. They are a great annoyance to the Cape Cod people when they are trying to drive 

 a school of blackflsh ashore, and on the other hand often drive these ashore when they would not 

 be accessible to the fishermen. They prey largely, too, upon the white whale in northern seas. 

 In the Pacific there are two species at least, the Low-finned Killer, Orca atra Cope, and the High- 

 finned Killer, Orca rectipinna. The latter, though rarely more than twentj' feet long, has an 

 enormous dagger-shaped fin, six feet high, upon its back, which towers above the surface when 

 the animal swims high. In fact the Killer Whales all have these high back-fins, by which they 

 may be recognized at any distance. 



Destructivbness. — Captain Scammon, in his "Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast," 

 gives a long account of their habits, and of their fierce attacks upon the largest whales. The stories 

 of the combats of the swordflsh and the thresher shark upon whales have probably originated in 

 such combats as these, witnessed at a distance and imperfectly understood. Captain Scammon 

 writes : " The attacks of these wolves of the ocean upon their gigantic prey may be likened in some 

 respects to a pack of hounds holding the 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 haul the bleeding 

 monster under water; and when captured, should the mouth be open, they eat out its tongue. 

 We saw an attack made by three Killers upon a cow whale and her calf in a lagoon on the coast 

 of Lower California, in the spring of 1858. 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 

 for an hour or more. They made alternate assaults upon the old whale and her ofl'spring, finally 

 killing the latter, which sunk to the bottom, where the water was five fathoms deep. During the 

 struggle, the mother became nearly exhausted, having received several deciJ wounds about the throat 

 and lips. As soon as their prize had settled to the bottom, the three Orcas descended, bringing up 

 large pieces of flesh in their mouths, which they devoured after coming to the surface. While 

 gorging themselves in this wise the old whale made her escape, leaving a track of p'ory water 

 behind."! 



Annoyance to whalemen. — Instances are given where whales which had been killed by whale- 

 men and were being towed to the ship have been forcibly carried away by bands of Killers. They 

 are also obnoxious as destroyers of the young fur seal, and often remain for a long time in the 

 vicinity of the seal islands. Eschricht says that thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals were found 

 in the stomach of an Atlantic Killer, sixteen feet in length. They are particularly abundant in 

 the bays and sounds of British Columbia and Alaska, in search of seals and porpoises feeding there 

 upon small fish. They even attack the full-grown walrus and rob it of its young. 



Uses. — Their range is cosmopolitan. They are never attacked by whale ships, and their only 

 pursuers in America are the Makah Indians of Washington Territory, who, according to Scammon, 



'Scammon: op. cit, pp. 89-90. 

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