Back Aa

Within the Deep

Close

<h4>LESSON VI</h4> <h3>THE WHALE</h3> Now and again Whales are washed up on our coasts, and then we can see how huge is this strange monster of the deep. It is by far the largest of all living animals. Once on the land it is quite helpless; it cannot regain its home in the waters, and slowly dies. It is shaped like a fish, and its home is in the sea, so no wonder it has often been called a fish. If by chance the Whale is held under water, it drowns. It has no gills, like those of the fish, to take air from the water; it is a mammal, a creature that must breathe the free air just as other mammals. Nature is full of surprises. And here she surprises us with a mammal most marvellously fitted to live a fish-like life. The Whale dives to great depths in search of food, and stays under water for a long time. But it is forced to rise again, and breathe at the surface. To do this, it need not put its head and mouth out of water, for its nostril is at the top of the head. As the Whale forces used-up air from its nostril--or "blow-hole," as it is called--it mixes with water; this causes a jet or spout of water to rise some distance into the air. The blow-hole is closed by a stopper or valve, opening to let the air in or out, but closing to shut out the water. Some of the Whale family are enormous, and some are small. A large Sperm Whale may grow to be ninety feet long, and its weight would be nearly two hundred tons! This huge creature would look like a deep barge in the water. These Sperm Whales love to swim in herds, or schools. As many as three hundred have been seen in one school, old "bulls" and "cows," and their young ones swimming together far out at sea. It has been noticed that they all spout, or breathe, at the same time, and then dive to great depths. The old ones seem to know that their babies cannot stay under water as long as a full-grown Whale can, and they all rise at the same time. These youngsters may be nearly thirty feet long; but they gambol like so many kittens, twisting and turning over and over, and throwing themselves into the air. Most Whales are happy creatures, enjoying their roving life in the free ocean. You can well imagine that a Whale as big as a barge needs huge dinners. We should not be far wrong if we guessed that he would need about a ton of food every day. Where is he to get all that food? It is said that he feeds mostly on the Cuttle-fish, that giant cousin of the Octopus, who haunts the dim caverns of the deep. The Sperm is of enormous strength, and is as fierce as he is strong. Otherwise he would not dare to face the awful, clinging arms of the Cuttle, that ogre of the deep sea. The Sperm Whale has a great, blunt head, a huge mouth, and a throat large enough to swallow a man. His clumsy-looking head contains oil, so does the deep layer of blubber with which his body is covered. For the sake of this oil, the Sperm has always been hunted. But he is not easily overcome. He fights hard for life; and many a whaling boat has been dashed to pieces with one blow from the powerful tail of a hunted Sperm. This great tail is set cross-wise, not upright like the tail of a fish. It is of immense power, and divided into two big "flukes," as they are called. With strong up-and-down strokes the tail propels the monster along at a great pace. It also shoots him down to his feeding place in the depths of the sea, and up again to fill his lungs with sweet fresh air. The fins, or paddles, are used only as balancers, and to protect the young. These Sperm Whales inhabit warm seas, but others of the Whale family haunt colder regions. The greatest of these is the Right Whale, or Greenland Whale, a monster whose bulk rivals that of the Sperm. Now it is very strange that this, the largest member of the whole kingdom of animals, should live on some of the smallest creatures of the sea, and that the mouth and throat of this monster should be so made that he can eat only this minute food, food like that which the tiny Herring eats. In some parts of those cold northern seas the water is coloured in bands of red and blue. If you took up a bucketful, you would find that the colour was due to myriads of tiny creatures. Amongst these are other myriads of small animals, each of less size than a house-fly. The larger ones are there to feed on the smaller ones. And that mass of small life is the food of this mountain of fat and flesh, the Greenland Whale. He swims through the sea with his mouth gaping open, like a great cavern, and soon thousands of the little creatures are inside. Then his tongue comes forward. It is of immense size, and it pushes out all the sea water from his mouth. But the small animals remain inside! For the water is forced through a wonderful sieve, made of fringed plates, which hangs from his upper jaw. Instead of having teeth in his mouth, as many Whales have, the Greenland Whale has this sieve of "whalebone." Of course it is a large sieve, to fill so large a mouth. Yet it is never in the way, being neatly packed away at the top of the mouth, one plate over the other, when not in use. The mass of small animals, held back by this peculiar sieve, then slides down his throat, which is a tube about as wide as a boy's wrist! We said just now that Nature was full of surprises. Is it not surprising to find a gigantic Whale feeding in this way! Inside the great mouth the Remora? or Sucking Fish, is often found. This fish has an oval sucker on its head, by which it fixes itself to Whales, or even to the hull of a ship. It has fins, and can swim perfectly well, but prefers to live in this lazy way. The Whalebone Whales lead a peaceful, happy life, though not without dangers. The bitter cold of their northern home is nothing to them, for are they not snug in a deep blanket of blubber? To obtain food, they merely swim along with open mouth. These peaceful giants do not know how to fight for their lives, like the Sperm Whales. So, when man came, hunting the Greenland Whale for oil and "whalebone," he found an easy victim. They have other enemies, besides man. The Killer Whale is one of the fiercest, swiftest terrors of the sea. It is tiny, compared with the Greenland Whale, but much quicker and more cunning. Several Killers band together and spring to the attack at the same time, Like wild cats, they dash at the poor helpless Whale, and tear its sides with terrible curved teeth. The Sword-fish and Thresher Shark also help to destroy this harmless giant of the deep. The Sword-fish pierces it with his pointed "beak"; the other slashes the sides of the wretched Whale with its long tail. It is said, by those who have seen such a fight, that the Thresher's tail cuts deep into the Whale's sides. <ANTIMG align="right" alt="[Illustration: THE SUCKING FISH]" src="images/img08.jpg"> In all parts of the wide sea there are Whales of one kind or another. We have looked briefly at the Sperm and Greenland Whales, and the Killer Whale. Besides these there is the Narwhal, or Sea-unicorn, with a wonderful tusk, which is really a big tooth, some six feet long. Another one, the Bottle-nose Whale, has a long, narrow "beak," and is sometimes washed up on our shores. The Pilot Whale is also seen in herds in our seas. Another visitor, the Rorqual, is not welcomed by the fishermen. This big fellow follows the shoals of Mackerel and Herring. He lives on them, swallowing as many at each gulp as would fill several big baskets. The fishermen can spare him the fish. But it is another matter when he swims through valuable nets, tearing through them as if they were so much cobweb. The commonest Whale of our seas is that small one, the Common Dolphin, who is a midget some five or six feet long. You may have seen Dolphins, for they swim near the surface, and may often be noticed not far from the shore. Like the Rorquals, they follow the Herring and Mackerel shoals. Now and again they dash into the nets, and are shown in the fish-market. <h4>EXERCISES</h4> 1. Describe how the Whale breathes. 2. What food do the Sperm and Greenland Whales eat? 3. How does the Greenland Whale eat its food? 4, Give the names of five kinds of Whale. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2