Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-05-17
TERRIFIC COMBAT IN THE OCEAN
Fight to the Death Between Three Orcas
and Whale.

Hank WEIGH, who has followed
whaling for many years, was lucky
enough to be one Of a crew beyond
the Gulf of the Holy Cross last spring
that came upon large whale In dls-
tress. surrounded by. three, monster
orcas, or billers, which had him wind
ed and badly wounded. The story Is
best told by Welsh:
IL awe saw big broadhead half a
mile away to windward, and ne <Kept
a-iumping so hard that we knew ne
was in trouble. When we got closer
we saw some thrashers or billers afoul
of him, and the water for an acre or
two around was bloody. The orcas
were pretty big ones and very vicious,
especially one which was fully tWen-
ty feet long, and when the whale
went down a few fathoms this old
bow rushed down after him and gave
it to him hard. You see whale can
stay under about half an hour, and
he can 90 down 400 or 500 fathoms
without minding the pressure, but he
can't do a single submarine trick
ahead of an Orca. These orcas some
times chase a whale SO hard that
when he hits the bottom he breakes
his jawbone. Well, this old orca fol-
lowed the whale SO savagely that he
did not stay down over five minutes
at time, and when he came up he
was jumped upon by the other two,
which kept watch on him like hungry
wolves. When he saw the ferociOus
gang he seemed to lose heart, for
they were too quick for him. think
he was just about worn out or down
hearted, or something, for he anchor
ed for a second. This gave the big
orca chance to slide up and catch
him by the under lip and bite a piece
out. The OLD fellow dashed and dived,
but down went another area after
him.
"When the whale came up the orca
had him by the lip and the third
one caught him by the tongue. Now
a whales tongue is six feet long and
weighs as much as a man. The way
the orcas jerked it all out Of him
piece by piece and then ate off his
lower lip in spite Of all he could do,
beat all the fights under the sun.
How that whale did suffer till we got
up and Jet a dynamite bomb into
him. When Bill Peters lanced him
he seemed to enjoy it, for he turned
over and died easily"
1t seems to be agreed among all
whalers that no fight ever seen equals
the awful combats which these sea
monsters wage against one another
with unfagging ferocity. The orca
is the only grampus or warm-b looded
animal of the ocean that constantly
preys upon warm blooded creatures
of his own kind, preferably the whale,
the largest of his species. The orca's
habits are predatory, and his strength
and ferocity are remarkable.
",The orcas often travel with sword
fish," said Capt Thompson. an old
whaler, land / have sometimes seen
a whole school in combat with four
or five orcas and few sword fish.
When the sword fish get under a
whale and the orcas commence to tear
his under lip and tongue, which are
choice morsels for them, he seems to
know his days are numbered. I don't
know how long a whale can live
after these savage creatures attack
him, but our crews have found sever
al carcasses of whales which have
bled to death from the wounds thus
inflicted by their enemies. ! have
also seen broken backed ercas which
had been struck by a whales fiukes. :"
San Francisco Chronicle.