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 2 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-“Fish ,” 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' pus gris'e-us. 
4 Or-ci'nus or'ca. 
