Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1895-10-18
WHALES MAKE GIGANTIC LEAPS
Seventy.Ton Monster Rose Twenty Feet
In the Air and Cleared Boat.

Seventy Ton Monster Rose Twenty Feet
In the Air and Cleared Boat.
Speaking Of jumping" said an old
seaman who had been watching some
boys play leapfrog on the sands, ''let
me tell you Of the greatest jump ever
seen. 1t was many years ago, when
was little more than a lad, but I was
bow oarsman on a Whale boat belonging
to the ship Henry Staples. We had had
bad luck for several weeks, when one
day we sighted a big whale, and two
boats set off in race to see who would
get there first. 1t was fairly smooth,
what the sailors call a white-cap breeze,
and our boats fairly few over the water.
Finally the whale rose not 100 yards
away, heading directly for us. The har-
pooh stood with his iron all ready to
throw, while we grasped our oars ner-
vously, prepared to jump at the word
stern ALL that nearly always came
when a whale was harpooned. Not
word was spoken, and suddenly noun
tain of black appeared; it seemed to
shut off the entire horizon. Up it went
| until I distinctly saw a 70-foot whale
over 20 feet in the air lowering over us.
"The mate was the first to regain his
senses, and gave the command stern
ALL Just as we were ready to spring
| overheard the boat shot back several
| feet, and the next second the gigantic
| animal dived into the ocean, just graz
ing us having completely passed over
the boat in the biggest leap 1 ever heard
| off,
Such gigantic jumps are rare, says
the Philadelphia Times. A similar one
was recorded by DR.. Hall, who at the
| TINA a mil CHI
.Leander. They were lying in the har-
| Dor of Bermuda, when all hands were
attracted by the appearance of very
large whale that suddenly appeared in
| the harbor and seemed very much
| alarmed by the shallow water, found
! ering about violently. The young mid
shipman Joined a boats crew that
started in pursuit, and just as they
were about to strike, the whale disap-
peared, sinking out Or sight, leaving a
deep whirlpool, around which the boat
shot. Before it stopped up came the
whale, having in all probability struck
the bottom, and went into the air like
a rocket. $50 complete was this enor-
nous leap" says DR.. Hall, "that for
an instant we saw him fairly up in the
air, in horizontal position, at a dis
lance Of at least 90 perpendicular feet
over our heads. While in his progress
upward there was in his spring some
touch of the vivacity with which a
trout or salmon shoots out of the water,
but he fell back again in the sea like
huge log thrown on it's broadside,
and with such a laundering crash as
made all hands stare with astonish-
ment and the boldest held his breath
for time. Had the whale taken his
leap one minute sooner he would have
fallen plump on the boat"
Comparatively few people have seen
large whale, but we can imagine
what an object an animal 70 feet long
and weighing as many tons would make
flying through the air.
Within a week of the writing of the
present article was drifting along
the shores of Santa Catalina Island
California, when a 6O-foot whale almost
cleared the water about a thousand
yards from the boat. 1 was about to
ask the boatman what rock 1t was
when the great head descended and
the tail rose into the air as the monster
dived.
Mr.. Scorsby, the famous whaler
, chronicles a number of incidents of
jumping among whales, some leaving
the water completely and rising 90
or more feet into the air.
Many of the inhabitants of the sea
are good Jumpers, and some have be-
come famous. Among them should be
mention the tarpon or silver king, a
huge fish with scales that CLEAN like
silver, which constitutes the famous
game fish of Florida. The leaps of
this beautiful creature are often as
tonishing. Several years ago a steam
err was rushing down the st. Johns
river. The captain was sitting on the
fore deck leaning against the pilot
house, when SUDDENLY there rose in the
air beautiful shining fish four feet
in length. 1t came like an arrow and
landed in the lap of the captain as
neatly as though it had been placed
there.
} In the Pacific waters the tuna, an ally
of the horse mackerel, is noted for its
leaps. Sometimes school sweeps UP
the coast and the powerful fish, often
= Weighing 800 pounds, are seen in the air
] in every direction. They are like an ar
r row, turn gracefully five or six feet
e in the air and come down, keeping the
l water for acres in a foam, and, If moi
2 the greatest jumpers, they are certain,
E ly the most graceful of the leapers Of
: the sea.