The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-10-15
WHALES LEAPS.
Gigantic Jumps Taken by These
Monsters of the Ieep.

/ T
seaman who had been watching some
boys playing leapfrOg on the sands,
"let me tell you of the greatest jump
ever seen. 1t was many years ago,
when / was little more than lad, but
/ was bow oarsman on q whalebOat
belonging to the ship Henry Staples.
We had had bad luck for several
weeks, when one day we sighted big
whale, and two boats set off in race
to see who could get there first. 1t
was fairly smooth, what the sailors
call a white-cap breeze, and our boats
fairly flew over the water. Finally,
the whale rose not one hundred yards
away, heading directly for US. The
harpoOner stood with his iron all ready
to throw, while we grasped our oars
nervously, prepared to jump at the
word stern ALL that nearly always
came when a whale was harpooned.
Not word was spoken, and suddenly
a mountain of black appeared; it
seemed to shut off the entire horizon.
Up it went until 1 distinctly saw
seventy-foot whale over twenty 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 grazing us, having completely
passed over the boat in the biggest
leap / ever heard Of"
Such gigantic jumps are rare. A
similar one was recorded by DR.. Hall,
who at the time was q midShipman
on the ship Leander. They were ly-
ing in the harbor of Bermuda, when
all hands were attracted by the APP
pearance of very large whale that
suddenly appeared in the harbor and
seemed very much alarmed by the
shallow water, f1Oundering about Vio-
lently. The young midshipman join
ed boats crew that started in pur-
suit, and just as they were about to
strike the whale disappeared, sinking
out of sight, leaving 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 enormous
leap" says DIR. Hall, "that for an in
slant we saw him fairly up in the air,
in horizontal position, at distance
of at least twenty 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, bat he fell back again in the
sea like a huge log thrown on its
broadside, and with such laundering
crash as made all hands stare with
establishment, 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 |
a large whale, but we can imagine |
what an object an animal seventy feet !
long and weighing as many tons would |
make flying through the air.
Within week of the writing CT the |
present article / was drifting along |
the shores Of Santa Catalina Island, |
California, when a siXty-foot whale |
almost cleared the water about q |
thousand yards from the boat. / was |
about to ask the boatman what rock |
it was, when the great head descended |
and the tail rose into the air as the !
monster dived.
Mr.. Scorsby, the famous whaler,
n number of instances of
jumping among whales, some leaving
the water completely and rising twen-
ty or more feet into the air.
Many of the inhabitants of the sea
are gOoG jumpers and some have be-
come famous. Among them should
be mentioned 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 astonishing. Several years ago
a steamer 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 Pacific waters the tuna, al ally
Of the horse mackerel, is noted for its
leaps. Sometimes school sweeps up
he coast, and the powerful fish, often
eight hundred pounds, are
seen in the air in every direction.
They are like an arrow, turn grace
ully five or six feet in the air and
come down, keeping the water for
acres in foam, and, if not the great
est jumpers, they are certainly the
most graceful of the leapers of the
ea.-Philadelphia Times.