Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1878-11-08
Something about the Grampus.

Something about the Grampus.
A very unusual scene was witnessed
recently in our harbor, says a New York
paper. Two full grown granpuses en-
tered the Narrows in the wake of one of
the Allan line of steamers, and were OBJ.
served dashing rapidly about the harbor,
blowing at intervals and seemingly quite
bewildered. A boats crew from man.
of-war, which happened to be in the har.
Dor, was dispatched in pursuit of one of
them and chased it TO the head of the
harbor, where its tail caught between
the piles of wharf and it became COM
pletely powerless. Ropes were passed
round it and it was speedily dragged into
shallow water in one of the coves and
dispatched. 1t proved to be full
grown grampus, twenty-five feet five
inches in length and fifteen feet in cir
cumference. Its companion manage
to find the entrance to the harbor and
escaped. The dead grampus was cut up
for the sake of the oil it contained, but
very little could be extracted. 1 man.
aged to obtain the skull and jaws, which
are in perfect condition. They have
been thoroughly cleaned, and 1 shall
present them to our local museum
There are eleven teeth in the upper and
under side of each jaw-forty- four in
all-very powerful, large, conical and
somewhat hooked, those furthest back
being hattened at the summit. Two of
them are broken, indicating the severe
battles in which it had been engaged.
This armament of powerful teeth, which
interlock when the mouth is closed, indi-
Gates the voracious and warlike charac-
ter of the grampus. 1t attacks and de-
yours seals and the smaller porpoises
and dolphins, but lives chiefly on cod,
haibut, skate and turbot, of which it
consumes immense numbers. 1t is
stated that a number of them will in
company attack Greenland whale,
biting and tearing its flesh with their
powerful teeth, some selling the tail,
others the lips and tongue, like so many
mastiffs fighting with a wild bull, and
seldom ceasing the contest till finally
victorious. 1 made a careful examina.
ton of the great animal soon after its
capture. The color is black on the
upper part of the body, suddenly chang
ing to white on the sides and abdomen.
Immediately above and rather behind
the eye is white patch, not unlike an
eye-lid. The dorsal fin, about the mid
die of the body, is very large, being
about four feet high, and the pectorals
are also large. It's head is more rounded
than that of porpoise and it's forehead
more convex its snout is short and
round. The lower jaw is somewhat
bent upward, broader but not so long
as the upper.
The grampus is not often seen around
these coasts, Greenland and Davis
Straits being it's favorite resort. It is
common in the British seas and frths.
This is the first instance of the capture
of grampus on our shores of which |
have heard. 1t is no easy task to mas
ter one of these powerful animals, and
had it not been that the tail of this one
got entangled between the logs of wood
forming the breastwork of wharf, it
would have escaped. The grampus is
at once cautious and daring. It is on
record that four of them were taken in
the Thames at different times between
1855 and 1898, and one in Lynn harbol
i'll 1929. Sir Joseph Banks gives the
particulars of one taken in the Thames
in 1772 CATER being pierced with
three harpoons it pulled the attached
boat twice from Blackwell to Greenwich,
and once as far as Deptford, against
the tide, running at the rate of eight
miles an hour and for long time un
impeded by the lance wounds, which
we're inflicted when it came to the sur
face. So long as it was alive no boat
could venture to approach it, and the
dying efforts of this formidable creature
were very terrible. 1t was finally killed
opposite Greenwich hospital / sup
pose the one I have been describing
must have got thoroughly exhausted by
its efforts to escape. otherwise it would
have made more desperate fight in It'll
last moments. Probably never before
was grampus caught by the tail. The
skull, with the mouth open, displaying
the teeth, will be striking object il
our museum.