TOOTHED WHALES. 
27 
great regularity. The number of its spoutings, when in a state of quietude, depends 
on the size of the animal. The same may be said as to the time it remains upon 
or beneath the surface of the ocean. With the largest bulls the time occupied in 
performing one expiration and one inspiration is from ten to twelve seconds, and 
the animal will generally blow from sixty to seventy-five times at a rising, 
remaining upon the surface of the sea about twelve minutes. As soon as ‘his 
spoutings are out ’ he pitches head-foremost downward, then, ‘ rounding out,’ turns 
his flukes high in the air, and, when gaining a nearly perpendicular altitude, 
descends to a great depth, and there remains from fifty minutes to an hour and 
a quarter.” During the spouting there is no sound heard. When swimming in the 
ordinary manner, with the hump just showing above the surface, Beale believes 
that sperm-whale can attain a speed of about seven miles an hour, but when 
swimming with the head alternately in and out of the water he estimates the 
speed at from ten to twelve miles in the hour. 
When at the surface, sperm-whales frequently indulge in what appear to be 
mere sportive gambols. At one time they will violently beat the water into foam 
with their flukes, this action being known to whalers as “ lob-tailing,” while at 
others they will leap completely out of the water. Beale states that the way in 
which the sperm-whale performs this action of “ breaching ” “ appears to be by 
descending to a certain depth below the surface, and then making some powerful 
strokes with his tail, which are frequently and rapidly repeated, and thus convey 
a certain degree of velocity to his body before it reaches the surface, when he darts 
completely out. When just emerged and at its greatest elevation, his body forms 
with the surface of the water an angle of about forty-five degrees, the flukes lying- 
parallel with the surface; in falling, the animal rolls his body slightly, so that he 
always falls on his side. He seldom ‘ breaches ’ more than twice or thrice at a 
time or in quick succession.” It is added that the “ breaching ” of a sperm-whale 
is discernible at a distance of six miles from the masthead on a clear day. It is 
believed by some authorities that these actions of the sperm-whale are not gambols, 
but are undertaken to rid its body of certain parasites. If frightened, the animal 
can sink suddenly to the bottom, even when lying horizontally. 
The female cachalot, according to Beale, breeds at all seasons of the year, and 
there is generally but a single young one produced at a birth, although twins are 
not unknown. At birth the length of the young sperm-whale is said to vary from 
11 to 14 feet. 
The chief food of the sperm-whale consists of squids and cuttles, 
but considerable quantities of fish—comprising rock-cod, albicore, 
and bonito—are likewise consumed. All these different kinds of food are procured 
at a considerable depth below the surface of the water, but the mode of capture is 
at present unknown. It has indeed been suggested that, when below the surface, 
the whale remains stationary and drops its lower jaw nearly perpendicularly, thus 
revealing the glistening white interior of the capacious mouth. This, it is alleged, 
serves to attract the various animals upon which the creature feeds, and when 
a sufficient number have entered the trap, the lower jaw is suddenly closed. 
Although the suggestion is ingenious, it is one that scarcely admits either of proof 
or disproof. 
