Evening star., 1926-01-10

reputable books on natural history
| but the largest specimen which ha :
Yet been actually measured and
recorded is 81 feet long. stranded a
few years ago upon the coast of New
Zealand: this animal must have
weighed at least Is tons. I have
measured two blue wha les So feet long
hut individuals OF this size are rare.
All the gunners who have hunted
in the South Atlantic or Pacific tell
remarkable tales OF the enormous blue
whales killed off kerguelen and South
Georgia Islands. ! have no doubt tina
this species reaches 90 or possibly 81
feet. but the stories Of ll5 and l2o
! foot whales are certainly myths. As
! DIR. Lucas aptly SAYS. IAN whale.
shrink under the tape measure"
Undoubtedly the principal reason
why whales are able to attain such
enormous size is because their bodies
are supported by the water in which
they live. bird is limited to the
weight which it's wings can bear uu
| in the air. A land animal II II he
comes too large. cannot hold it's body
| off the ground or move about readily
and is doomed to certain destruction
But whale has to face none OF
| these problems and can grow withou,
restraint. The sperm and right
whales float when killed. but the fir
whales usually sink. although the
! specific gravity OF their bodies is
| but little more than that Of water
Beca use whales live in a supporting
| medium their Young are of enormous
| size at birth, in some instances the
| calf being almost half the length OF
| its mother. i once took from an so
| foot blue whale a 25-foOt haby which
weighed about eight tons. The cali
was just ready for birth and was fully
| formed. the whaIebone being about
! three inches long.
by the harpon. II Is almost power
| less TO pull because the strain on the
! rope straightens out it's body and the
a animal can swim only with difficulty
| Practically all OF the forward motion
! is developed by means OF the hukee
and the side fms are only used as bal
| ancing organs and In turning and
| rising to the surface. The hukes are
not twisted In rotary movement like
| the propeller Of a ship, as is com
monty believed, but wave straight ur
and down.
While hunting in Alaska I had ar
excellent opportunity to see the ma n
ner in which a whale swims. I had
climbed to the barrel in the ma sthea
while we were following an enormous
| like glass, save for the long swell,
surface.
Suddenly the dim outlines of the
whale took shape in the green depths
far below me. but when near the sur
face the animal checked it's upwa I'd
rush, turned downward and dived
directly under the ship. rising a hun
dred fathoms away on the port beam
[ could see every movement of the
great body as clearly as though the
whale had been suspended in midair
When the animal turned. the side fms
we're thrown outward but were pressed
close to the body as 1t swan under
the ship.
A whales hippers must not be com
pared with the fms of a fish. for in
structure the two are quite unlike
The flippers of all cetaceans are mere.
ly the fore limbs of ordinary land
mammals, which have become over
laid with blubber to form a paddle In
adaptation to an aquatic life and have
the bones, blood vessels and nerves
of the human arm. The fiipper of
the humpback whale has four greatly
elongated fingers, but in some other
species there are five fingers, as in
the human hand.
The finback whale Is the greyhound
of the sea, and we'll deserves the
name, for it's beautiful slender body
Is built like racing yacht and the
animal can surpass the speed OF the
fastest ocean stea mship.
1t is a hard whale to kill and trouble
can always be expected If the iron
strikes too far back. The first one !
ever hunted gave us a four hours
fight. with two harpoons in It's body
and furnished abundant proof of wha
truly magnificent creature the fin
back is.
1t was while was with Capt
| Charles Grahame on the Tyee ir
Alaska. We had had an exciting ex
perience with a humpback whale
| which rose under the ship, and after
killing It had steamed toward several
| finbacks which were spouting far
away near the coast.
The huge brutes were feeding and
| lying on the surface rolling from side
| to side. thrusting their ms and f1ukes
! into the air. l could see, with the
glass. that always when taking a
mouthful of shrimps they turned or
their sides, letting the great under
| jaw close over the upper, the water
squirting out in streams from between
| the plates of baleen.
AS the vessel neared the whales the
signal was sounded for half speed, and
| quietly she slid through the water
/ toward two big f1nbacks which were
| leisurely swimming along close to
gether Intent on the feed which
| floated in patches at the surface and
| stained the water light pink, the
whales paid not the slightest atten
| tion to the steamer which was creep
| ing so slowly and quietly near them
They went down in front of the bow
| just out of range. but without archins
| their backs, showing that the dive
| would be short one; and so it proved
| for they reappeared only 10 fathom,
fh1 ~ hox