The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-09-28
SEA HORSES AND RIDERS.
birds Resting on Whales and Other
Fish Ia the Opean Ocean.


| Yes, we see curious things once in
WHILE" said San Pedro fisherman.
| "A few days ago l made trip over
| fhe Santa Catalina channel for load
! or abaloneS that they pile up at the
| lSthmus FOR me every few months, and
when got off there about ten miles I
saw big Icon sitting on what seemed
| like a spar. But while I watched, it
| seemed to fall off, then circled around
| several times and alighted again, re-
| tanning its position with much diff
Guilty. The wind had almost died
down, as we were in the lee of the
island, and we slowly drifted up to
the bird until we were within so feet
OF 1T, when l saw what the roost was,
not spar at all, but big fish-one Of
those fellows the Italians call the
luna, because it was like the moon.
This luna was the biggest one I
have ever seen, and was so old that it
was covered with goose barnacles and
looked more like a piece of wreckage
than anything else; that is what the
bird probably thought it was.
The fish lay almost fiat on the water,
with one dig fin sticking out, the other
being under the water, and the weight
of the bird made it lie over to one
side. AS we neared it the bird rose
and flew away and the fish straight
ened up; but it made, no attempt to
move away as we came alongside and
1t looked to me like a fish over 100
years old | struck it with an oar. but
1t moved only a little way off, then
came to the surface again.
81 saw something as curious last
year, continued the fisherman. In
August the waters of the islands off
here FROM San Clemente up are filled
with fish that are spawning The wa
ter will then be covered in places with
small birds that look like snipe, and
1T is common thing to see them
swimming about in schools of hun
dreds. On this trip kept my eye out
for wha les as a brother-in-law Of
mine wcs whaler at Point Iona,
and wa1;ied to know the outlook for
whales up this way. When about half
way over. right in midcha mel, I saw
the spout of big gray whale, and the
next minute saw the back of the
whale. about twenty feet of it, as black
as ink upin the blue water TO my
surprise it did not disappear. and I
soon concluded that the big creature
was either asleep or lying on the sur
face summing itself.
LAS we came nearer l saw at least
fifty little birds running about on it's
back, feeding upon the various para
sites on the whales back.
I'VE lay off and watched them for
some time. They ran up and down
i just as they .weeuldz on a beach, and it
| occurred to me that it was not an ac-7
cident. but that there was some un-
! Il 1,o +hn y1,o1 nd "a
birds. In other words. the whale
knew that the birds were relieving it
Of many parasites that it could not get
rid of In any other way, and conse-
Quently submitted to their running
over t. Finally its big hukes rose II n
the air, the cloud Of birds fiew away
and the whale, probably with a clean
back, sank out of sig11e. =
"On another occasion as l was cruis-
/ ing down by Ensenada, ran into
little bay one day and l saw What I
supposed to be a log floating on the
surface, as on it were numerous birds,
some walking about. others apparently
asleep. AS we ran in nearer / saw
that it was big sea turtle asleep on
the surface, and the birds alighted
upon it's broad back as they would
have done upon floating timber. They
| few away as we came alongside. and
we put a harpoon into the turtle and
took it, after it had towed us about
the bay
Up around Monterey a gigantic
shark is sometimes caught in the net
of the fisherman. Its length ranges
from twenty to forty feet and is
known as the basking whale, from the
fact that it floats on the top of the
water, literally basking in the sun
| light-much after the fashion of the
sunfish. This affords yeritable float
ing island for the various sea birds
that rise from it in a cloud as boats
back exposed
There are other sea jockeys than
| those mentioned. The writer some
time ago caught large hammer-head
| whale off Redondo Beach. This big
creature toWed the boat about for
| nearly an hour. and when brought in
sight of the boat it was seen to have
several riders almost pure black
and a foot in length-which were at
tached to the shark. The shark was
struggling and fighting, and cutting
through the water with powerful rush
es; but the little fish still clung to it,
and. finally, when it was hauled upon
the beach, the little back attendants
came with it. They We're clinging to
the shark by curious sucker on the
back of the head that reSembled the
Stats of q Venetian blind; and the sue
ton was so powerful that. when the
plate or sucker was attached it was
extremely difficult to pull it off by
main force. Half a dozen of these
riders accompanied the shark and they
are sometimes seen accompanying tur-
tles-and may be called the real jock
eys of the sea.-New York Mail and
express.
The United States Government
Chemist. after an examination for the
Indian Department. made the emphat-
ic statement that "The Royal Baking
Powder is the purest in quality and
highest in strength of any baking pow
der of which I have knowledge"