Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-08-01
CAPTURING A GRAMPUS
One of the Most FerOciOus and Drmid-
able Inhabitants of the Ocean.
Toronto Globe

On Thursday last an unprecedented
arrival in our harbor (St. Johns \. F., J
took place. Two grampuses o. large
size were observed spouting with great
vigor and dashing about in frantic,
bewildered manner in the waters of the
narrow entrance of the harbor. They
had probably been tempted to pass the
narrow entrance of the harbor while in
pursuit of caplin, which are now around
the coast III enormous shoals. After a
time one of them escaped, and made its
way to the sea, but the other, being prlr-
sued by a boats crew from her mai
esty's steamship Sirius with view to
capture it, headed for the western side
of the harbor, and at length got en-
tangled in some piles. and became COM
pletely powerless, its tail having be-
come fast between two stakes. Ropes
were passed around it, and it was drag
ged ashore, where it soon died. 1t
proved to be a fullsized grampus,
twenty-five feet four inches in length,
and fifteen feet in girth at its thickest
part. Its mouth, when opened, dis
closed an array of powerful teeth, forty
four in number, large, ,conical, land some
what hooked, those furthest back being
f1attened at the summit. The tail IS
seven feet in width and forms very
powerful propeller. The head is short
and round, the lower jaw somewhat
bent upward. It has three fins-two
pectorals, large and oval, and a dorsal
nearly on the middle of the body. The
color of the skin on the back is a deep
black, the sides and abdomen being
white. Over the eye is large white
patch.
Thus 1t will be seen that the grampus
Is formidable animal, nearly half the
size OF Greenland whale. 1t is seldom
seen around these shores ifs favorite re-
sort beng Greenland and Davis Straits.
Ii IS sometimes seen, in small he1ds, in
the British seas, but rarely captured. 1t
IS on record that one was captured in
the Thames in 1859, which was twer.y-
four feet In lengtn; mote IN 1772,
and another in 1898, which measured
thirty-one feet in length. One was
taken in Linn harbor in 1929, and was
dispatched with much difficulty bv a
crowd of bOatmen. One of thoge taken
IN the Thames in 1772 was pierced with
three harpoons, and pulled the at
tached boat twice from Black
wall to Greenwich at the rae of eight
miles an hour against tie tide. so
long as it was alive no bot could ven-I
ture to approach it, and tie dying ef-
forts of this formidable ceatrire we're
very terrible. 1t was finalk killed op-
posite Greenwich Hospitl." Had it
not been that its tail was ought in the
way | have described, htween two
posts near a wharf, tbs sracimen
would have escaped, as thre were no
appliances ready for its caplre.
The grampus is a voracids and war
like creature, devouring immense guam
titles of cod, herring, hlibut and
skate. 1t attacks the pepoises and |
dolphins, and makes fierce Iar on seals. !
1t said that a small herd D them fire.
quently attack true wlale, tearing
huge mouthfuls f its hesI with their |
powerful teeth, Ike SO may mastifs
around a wild bul, and coeringit it with
blood and wounGs, till the geat giant
the deep succonbs to its more agile
foes