The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-07-07
THE KILLER WHALE.
A Blood-Thirsty Monster of the
North Sea..
Submarine Butchers Who Doyour Mum.
bers OF Their Own Families and
Regard n Man AS a Tooth
some aiorscl.

the ''sca tiger" or the 'sterror of tho
ocean," The Spitzbergcn fishermen
would find more appropriate use fol-
the latter epithct Seals. porpoiscs ano
even white whales have been known to
spring out of the water and run ashor,
to avoid the attacks of q creature
which, III proportion to its size. is Ger
talnly the most voracious of all marine
beasts OF prey. 1t is the>orca or killer
whale, (orca gladiator), n close relation
OF the dclphinid,p, but as superior in
strength to the southern porpoisc as q
walrus is to seal. The orca reaches q
length of twenty-five feet, and its Jaws
are bristling with teeth from four to
six inches long and as n sharp us a dirl,
knife. Single specimens have been seen
OF thirty Capt. Ross says thirty-fivc)
feet, and fully able to dcvour n sea lion
with n few quick snaps.
Its digestive power, says the Chicago
Herald, is proportional to the trsmen-
dous efficacy of its jaws. Prof Eschricht
examined Il specimen that had been
killed in shallow, water, and found in
its stomach thirteen porpoises and four
teen seals, and the "atrocious glutton,"
he adds, seemed to have got chokcd in
the attempt to swallow fifteenth"
since its outlet proved to be INSTRUCTED
by an intertwisted mass of seal bones.
Capt. Wicks describes the battle be-
tween Balccn whale and n swarm of
orcas that jerl1ed the big monster about
as pack of dogs would worry n fat
SOW. They flew ut its TANKS, snapped
big pieces out of its lips, and finally
hauled it under, while a surge of blood
stained foam bespoke the contamination
of the submarine butchery.
'"These demons will pursue their
largest relatives and pursue them like
raging hounds" says Dr. james NIurie,
who POUNDS his study of the whale fam.
lily on years of personal observation.
I'm one instance they assaulted Cali
fornia gray whale and her young. The
orcas killed the latter and sprang on
the mother, tearing away large pieces,
which they greedily devoured Orcas
have been known to attack q white.
painted herring boat, MISLEADING it for
a beluga, md they will not hesitate to
lay hold of harpooned whales and drag
them perforce under water
land grampus, and u good deal of con-
troversy about its murderous propensi-
ties has been caused by the fact that
some writer's have COMPOUNDED it with
its small relative, known us Rinos
grampus (phocena grisea), compare
lively harmless creature, found along
the east shores of the Atlantic, from St.
Helena to Scotland, while the orca in
beldom seen south OF tho fortieth paI.
;llcl, and is found in shoals only near
Spitzbergen and the east coast OF
Greenland.
Compared with that marine werewolf
even the shark is rather sluggish
brute, though he is apt to offset his lack
OF speed by cunning and patience. The
white shark of the tropics win hang
about wharvee for days and haunt bath.
ing places, rarely betraying his pres.
ence by premature gambols. Near Sin.
gaporc boats manned with lancers and
kcttledrums cruise about the docks be
fore bathers venture to enter the water,
and in the harbor of Havana a man was
nipped up year ago under circum-
stansss which seem to prove that orti.
nary precautions do NO always avail
against the cunning of a vetcrSras.'Inan
eater"
a stout mestizo, employed in q down
town livery stable, came to the beach
with u couple of horses, and after lete
ting them splash about in the shallow
water for minute or two rode in
deeper to give them chance to cool off.
A number of promenadcrs on the beach
were watching the horses, when sud.
denly, to their horror, they saw big
shark rise out of the water, seize the rid.
er's leg and draw him down before he
had time to utter more than single
Shrek. The water near the scene OF
the tragedy was not more than waist
deep, but the whole thing was done SC
quickly that attempts at rescue were
unavailing, though the witnesses in.
stantly rushed into the water, swinging
their sticks and yelling away with
might and main.
Like most sluggish creatures sharks
are extremely tenacious of life. Tor.
toiscs of several species will live for
hours after being beheaded, but show
the effects of the operation by sitting
almost perfectly still or slowly moving
their forelegs as if trying to ward off
an unseen foe. Decapitatcd sharks, on
the other hand, will continue to use all
their tail muscles with destructive
force, and in the water have been
known to swim about as if nothing nm
usual had happened, until their vitality
became exhausted by loss of blood.
Sir Emerson Tenant describes a
rather inhuman experiment of that
sort in the ofiing of Trincomale, Ccy.
Ion, where crew of enragcd sailors
dashed white shark to the gunwales
amputatcd its head and flung it over
L.. n,,l