148 
ORDERS OF MAMMALS— WHALES AND PORPOISES 
times completely ignored, and the quest settles 
down to a hunt for whalebone alone. 
Whale oil is no longer the valuable commodity 
it was forty years ago, but the hunt for baleen 
will ultimately exterminate all the whales of this 
Family. The Bow-Head Whale is of medium 
size, rarely attaining 65 feet, and usually runs 
under 50; yet it is uncommonly rich, both in 
baleen and oil. A large whale of this species is 
said to yield 275 barrels of oil, and 3,500 pounds 
of whalebone. 
On the coast of Newfoundland there are now 
five whaling stations which during the summer 
season do a thriving business. Small whales of 
two or three species are killed in adjacent waters, 
towed to the stations, and hauled up on ways* 
In a single day a whale forty feet long is com- 
pletely worked up, and practically every part of 
the animal yields a commercially-valuable prod- 
uct. 
When a whale is struck by a harpoon, it dives 
deeply to escape its foes, and remains under 
water as long as possible. The comfortable 
period for a whale to remain under water is fif- 
teen minutes, but in feeding below the surface, 
this is often extended to twenty-five minutes. 
Harpooned whales sometimes descend 300 feet 
and lie on the muddy bottom of a shallow sea 
for a period of from fifty minutes to an hour and 
twenty minutes. 
But whalers know that their victim must 
sooner or later come to the surface, or drown. 
As a whale reaches the surface, it immediately 
discharges its breath from the blow-holes situated 
on top of its head. A whale does not spout 
water, but the breath which comes from its lungs 
is so heavily laden with moisture that at a little 
distance it looks like water, especially when it 
curves over and falls into the sea. It is this 
“spouting” which reveals the whale to its enemy 
in the “crow’s-nest” of the whaling vessel, and 
causes him to shout joyously to those on deck, 
“There she blows!” 
In addition to the above, the most important 
species of baleen whales are these: 
The Right Whale ( Balaena glacialis), of the 
cool waters around the north pole and the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, north and south, attains 70 feet, but 
usually runs under 50 feet. 
The Pacific Right Whale ( Balaena sieboldii) 
inhabits the North Pacific. 
The Humpback Whale ( Megaptera nodosa), 
of the Atlantic, off the United States coast, 
is the species most frequently seen from the 
decks of passenger steamers and stranded on 
our coast. Its usual length is from 45 to 60 
feet. 
The Finback Whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ), 
of the North Atlantic coast, attains 60 feet, but 
yields little oil, and is difficult to kill. 
The California Gray Whale ( Rachianedes 
glaucus), from the arctic seas to Lower Cali- 
fornia, attains 45 feet. It is fond of shallow 
water, and is savage and dangerous. 
THE SPERM WHALE FAMILY. 
Physeteridae. 
It is impossible to give in a few words a clear 
and adequate conception of the various localities 
inhabited by the great Sperm Whale . 1 It may 
be said, however, that it is a habitant of the 
warm seas of the globe, from the North Atlantic, 
around Cape Horn, to the North Pacific. 
The Sperm Whale has an enormous, square- 
ended head, which constitutes one-third of its 
entire bulk. Under this great mass is the lower 
jaw of solid bone, shaped like a letter Y, the 
stem being fully armed with a double row of 
huge, conical teeth. In comparison with the 
great bulk of the head, the lower jaw seems ab- 
surdly small; but it is a formidable weapon, 
and whalers dread it. 
In seizing a whale-boat, a man struggling in 
the water, or any other dangerous enemy, a 
Sperm Whale turns on its side or back, like a 
shark, in order to bring its lower jaw over its 
victim. 
The largest Sperm Whales have measured 
from 80 to 84 feet. At birth they are from 1 1 to 
14 feet long. Their food consists of fish of vari- 
ous kinds, and also squid. A young whale, only 
twenty feet long, which was taken on the coast 
of Cornwall, had in its stomach about 300 mack- 
erel. The head of the Sperm Whale yields sperm 
oil, spermaceti, and teeth which are valuable for 
ivory. A substance called ambergris, of much 
value to druggists and perfumers, is obtained 
from the intestinal canal. 
The Sperm Whale Porpoise, or “Pygmy 
Sperm Whale” ( Ko'gi-a ), is found on both the 
1 Phys'e-ter mac-ro-ceph'a-lus. 
