The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-04-16
SEA MONSTERS IN BATTLE.
GIANTS OF THE DEEP IN
DEADLY COMBAT.
How Savage Orcas Tore Out a
Large Sperm Whales
Tongue.

There is not a harbor in the world
where one may see so many whalers as
in the bay of San Francisco at the
proper season. and there are hundreds
of stories of venture and deep sea Won
der that one may hear for the asking
by wandering among the old tars who
belong to the whaling crews.
A Record Union reporter met
Henry Petersen a few days ago, and he
is one of the oldest and best known
whale hunters that ever comes to this
part of the world. For more than thir
ty years he has hunted the sperm whale
all over the whale fields of the globe.
His chat covered many interesting
phases of whaling, but it is our pur
pose to describe a fight in mid-ocean
which he saw, the participants being
giant bull whale on the one side and
half dozen little orcas, or So
called Killers on the other. The spirit
of the fight and the flavor of sea life
are best preserved by allowing the old
sea rover to tell the story his own way:
1--WE were about half way between
Honolulu and Samoa said he when
the first mate of the Minerva sighted
big fellow blowing in the distance. He
must have been five miles away, and
he looked like a small island, except the
hump of him kept rising and sinking,
as we could see by the glasses. We
hove right on, and when we had got
within half a mile we saw there was
trouble, and that the old fellow was
fighting something. He thrashed all
around in great terror and pain, and
paid no attention to our coming. We
sent out two boats. and when we got
within a few hundred yards you bet we
wheeled and made for the ship again,
for four or five orca were tackling him.
and they'd just as soon smash a ships
boat as not. But we saw the fun. Do
you know how these killers fight a
whale? No, I suppose you don't Well.
they were at him like a band of savage
bulldogs, and there is just one tender
and vital spot that they attack-the
whales tongue. Now a whales tongue
is bigger than a man, and it is a ten
der morsel for the orca; and if you be-
lieve me, they were tearing it out by
chunks as big as a mans head, and the
water was all crimson for a quarter of
a mile. The whale got away by diving
once or twice, but these savage, bulldogs
of the sea watched for him to come
he sounded.
In his pain and anguish his blowing
was awful, and his spout was CRIMSON
with blood The orca crew were hun
cry, and if ever you saw a vicious at
tack of one animal on another that was
it There is no other part of a big
whale that they can attack except the
tongue, and they have that science
down fine. don't think l ever saw any
thing in my life so cruelty vicious as
the dying of that great whale, while
his blood poured out of the great
wounds in his tongue. He grew weaker
and weaker with pain, and as he gave
way the enemies fairly jerked out his
tongue by the roots. We killed two of
them with a charge from our dynamite
bombs. fired into them, you understand,
so that the missiles exploded after they
were imbedded into the flesh of the
orca. Well. when we finally got our
lines around the dying whale, who was
now too far gone to heed what was go
ing on, the orca had all departed save
the two we had killed, for they had the
tongue and knew there was nothing else
left to eat.
I'VE finally got the whale aboard,
first lancing him and seeing him die
as the mountain of flesh shivered in
commissions, like an earthquake on a
small island. His head weighed as
much, perhaps, as three or four ele-
plants, and his tongue had been liter
ally chewed out by his enemies. In all
my deep sea career never saw any
thing to equal that fight. Next to it
was battle between some thrasher
sharks and a whale. That was pretty
| good, so long as it lasted. for these
thrashers lash and pound their enemies
severely with their long, bony tails. but
beyond bruising the whale little in
tender places they did not appear to do
him much harm"