CETACEA—WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES.
How little any of us in New Zealand know about the monsters of the deep which are to be met with in the seas round our coasts! I seldom meet with any one who knows anything about them, or who can furnish me with anything beyond the merest shreds of information. I myself have seen a few whales and dolphins, and numerous porpoises; and this is the experience of all who travel by sea and care to observe its wonders. But such observers are few. Most of those whose business takes them on the great waters are concerned with other things than the animal life which the sea contains; and even fishermen, whose occupation takes them out constantly among this animal life, can give little information which is of the slightest value on anything but fishes.
Whales and their allies are not fishes, but are warm-blooded mammals, which suckle their young, and which breathe air—not dissolved oxygen, as fishes do. They constitute the order Cetacea. Twenty or more species are met with in New Zealand seas. Of these many are most imperfectly known, and several are only recognized by their bones.
Zoologically cetaceans are fish-like mammals, which have the tail expanded into horizontal flukes, the anterior limbs converted into fin-like paddles, and the posterior limbs represented by some rudimentary bones. Their bodies are nearly quite destitute of hair, and, as they have to breathe air, their nostrils are represented by a single or double blowhole, which is nearly always situated far back upon the skull. Some of the order have simple conical teeth; others have the jaws furnished with plates of baleen, or whalebone.
Whales include the largest of all vertebrate animals, but their reputed measurements, like those of many fish, have to be received with a grain of salt. The largest whales are the Rorquals, and perhaps 85 ft. is about the maximum recorded length. Compare that with the biggest dray-horse or the prize fat bullock at a show, and then try to realize what a huge bulk it is.
The whalebone-whales are well represented in New Zealand waters, though individuals are now rare compared with their relative abundance a century ago. A Norwegian company which started operations on a large scale in the North Island a few years ago abandoned the enterprise after trying it for a year or two. There was not enough money in it. Yet whalebone is enormously valuable—it was worth £2,000 a ton twenty years ago, and, in spite of numerous substitutes, it still keeps its place.
The Fin-back, or Rorqual (Balaenoptera musculus), runs up to 70 ft. in length, and yet its food seems to consist chiefly of small pelagic crustaceans belonging to the Copepoda. These little creatures, which can be taken by a fine-mesh surface net at all seasons of the year, vary from one-tenth to one-fortieth of an inch in length. It would be a somewhat difficult calculation to find how many of these little creatures would be required to assuage the appetite of a hungry whale. The whale has about 330 baleen plates on each side of its jaw, and these act as strainers to catch the little crustaceans. The production and destruction of inconceivable myriads of organisms are among the extraordinary and awe-inspiring phenomena of the sea.
Two other species of Balaenoptera are the Blue Whale (B. sibbaldii), which has been taken 85 ft. in length—the giant of its race—and the Pike Whale (B. rostrata), which seldom exceeds 30 ft.
The Humpback Whale (Megaptera lalandii) is so called because it has a lowish hump on its back, which represents the dorsal fin. Its maximum length is probably 60 ft. None of these whales, which are species with a very wide geographical distribution, are of much commercial value.
Of the “right” whales—which are merely the right kind of whales for the whaler to pursue, as their whalebone is longer and more valuable, and their oil more abundant and superior in quality to that of the other species named—the most important is the Southern Right Whale (Balaena australis). This animal is world-wide in its distribution, occurring in all seas but the Arctic regions, where its place is taken by the Greenland Whale (B. mysticetus).
Allied to this is the Little Australian Whale (Neobalaena marginata), which occurs only in the ocean south of New Zealand and Australia, and which grows only about 16 ft. long.
The most important of all these animals from a commercial point of view is the Sperm Whale, or Cachalot, an animal 60 ft. to 70 ft. in length—nearly one-third of it head—which used to be common in these southern seas, though mainly an inhabitant of warmer regions. The specific name—Physeter macrocephalus—refers to its gigantic head. The mouth is ventral in position, and the lower jaw is furnished with a great row of teeth, and according to Frank Bullen, who gives a picture of it, the animal turns over on its back like a shark when it is going to bite. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this statement.
Fig. 6.—Sperm Whale, or Cachalot.
These animals are still fairly common, though they are persistently and unremittingly pursued for their destruction. Bullen, writing of Foveaux Strait in the “nineties,” says, “Only three days elapsed after our arrival when whales were seen. For the first time I realized how numerous these gigantic denizens of the sea really are. As far as the eye could reach, extending all round one-half of the horizon, the sea appeared to be alive with spouts—all sperm whales, all bulls of great size. The value of this incredible school must have been incalculable. Subsequent experience satisfied me that such a sight was by no means uncommon here—in fact, ‘lone whales’ or small ‘pods’ were quite the exception.”
The cavity lying below the skull in the great square head of this whale is filled with spermaceti, which is fluid fat during the life of the animal. Up till as late as the middle of the eighteenth century this oil was regarded as the brain of the cachalot. The most valuable product yielded by the Sperm Whale is ambergris, which is a product of the intestinal canal. When first extracted it has a greasy feel and consistency, and then as it hardens it acquires its characteristic sweet, earthy odour. It is occasionally found floating at sea or washed up on beaches, and it is extraordinary how constantly lumps of fat or tallow thrown overboard by passing vessels get picked up on the shore and are eagerly seized by the finders, who think they have discovered a treasure. I have had numbers of such finds brought to me for identification. They nearly always turned out to be chunks of mutton-fat. The value of ambergris is very problematical—anywhere from 5s. to 10s. per ounce, probably. As far as I know, it is used only in connection with perfumery.
Professor Beddard says of the Sperm Whale, “Its food is chiefly cuttlefishes, and it is said to have a predilection for those colossal cuttlefishes whose existence has until recently been doubted. Mr. Bullen has sketched a conflict between these two giants of the deep. On the other hand, it is said that its large throat, more than big enough to swallow a man (this whale is credited with being that which swallowed Jonah) does not usually admit fishes larger than bonitos and albacores.” Bullen’s account of this fight is worth reading by all interested in these creatures. It is, of course, unsubstantiated, and the illustration which accompanies it is in part imaginary and taken from the description. But the account is probably correct, and the fact of their choice of food is well authenticated. In another part of his work, describing the contents of the mouth of a captured Sperm Whale, he writes: “In the maw there were, besides a large quantity of dismembered squid of great size, a number of fish, such as rock-cod, barracouta, snapper, and the like, whose presence there was a revelation to me. How in the name of wonder so huge and unwieldy a creature as the cachalot could manage to catch those nimble members of the finny tribe I could not for the life of me divine! Unless—and after much cogitation it was the only feasible explanation that I could see—as the cachalot swims about with his lower jaw hanging down in its normal position, and his huge gullet gaping like some submarine cavern, the fish unwittingly glide down it, to find egress impossible. This may or may not be the case; but I, at any rate, can find no more reasonable theory, for it is manifestly absurd to suppose the whale capable of catching fish in the ordinary sense, indicating pursuit.”
Whaling was a most profitable industry in these Islands a century ago. Waikouaiti was a well-known whaling-station when John Jones started his settlement there over seventy years ago. Otakou (or Otago) was another; and it is not so long ago that the old trying-down plant was still lying about Harrington Point. Stewart Island and Foveaux Strait, Tautuku Bay, and other sheltered spots on the coast were all originally settled by whalers. But these days are gone, and the whales themselves are comparatively rare. Whaling, however, is still carried on by motor-launch from Tory Channel and other places.
Besides the species I have mentioned, another, allied to the Sperm Whale, is occasionally met with. This is the Pigmy Whale (Kogia breviceps), which differs in various anatomical respects from its larger relative, but most markedly in its size, for it seldom exceeds 15 ft. in length.
Several species belonging to the family of beaked whales have been described from New Zealand waters by the late Sir James Hector and other naturalists. They are by no means common animals, but one reason of their rarity may be the fact of their being chiefly found right down in the Antarctic Ocean, where they are scarcely disturbed, as they have little commercial value.
Of the Porpoise Whale (Berardius arnouxi) only four or five specimens have been met with, yet it is the only well-known species of the genus. “It is 30 ft. to 32 ft. in length, and is of a velvety black colour, with a greyish belly. Instead of lowing like a cow, this whale has been described as ‘bellowing like a bull’!”
Of the genus Mesoplodon, which are known as Scamperdown Whales, some five species are said to occur in New Zealand. They are moderate-sized whales, 15 ft. to 17 ft. in length, which have a world-wide distribution.
Another whale, known as the Goose-beak Whale (Ziphius cavirostris) is probably the only species of the genus, and its distribution is also world-wide. Beddard says of it, “Our knowledge of Ziphius dates from the year 1804, when a skull, ‘completely petrified in appearance,’ was picked up upon the Mediterranean coast of France, and described by the great Cuvier. It was forty years before another specimen was found. In the New Zealand specimen described by von Haast the body was scored by numerous lacerations. These wounds may have been due to fights among the whales themselves; the forwardly-situated teeth would be capable of inflicting such wounds. But it has also been stated that the armed suckers of gigantic cuttlefish are responsible for these scratches.”
Every one who has travelled up and down the coast, and most who have sat by rocks overlooking the open ocean, are familiar with the schools of porpoises which are so common in these southern seas. It is interesting to watch them from the deck of a steamer, and to see how they dash along near the surface of the water with their peculiar gliding movement, curving their bodies as they plunge in and out of the water. They keep a wonderful regularity in their distance from one another, moving as if by mechanical means with a remarkable rhythmic movement. Bullen gives a short account of porpoise-hunting in the “Cruise of the Cachalot.” He states that these animals have “no skin—i.e., hide—the blubber or coating of lard which encases them being covered by a black substance as thin as tissue paper. The porpoise-hide of the boot-maker,” he adds, “is really leather made from the skin of the Beluga, or ‘White Whale,’ which is found only in the far north.” I cannot say whether this is accurate or not, for though I have frequently seen porpoises at close quarters I have never seen them cut up. Our species—Cephalorhynchus hectori—is usually from 5 ft. to 7 ft. long; it is quite distinct from the common European species, which, indeed, belongs to a totally different genus.
The dolphin—Delphinus delphis—is perhaps the most familiar of all cetaceans. It is a world-wide species, which is particularly common in the Mediterranean. There it has been observed from very early days, and a great number of mythical stories have gathered round it; hence the stories of Arion and others. “The leaping of the dolphin out of the water is exemplified in many Mediterranean coins and coats-of-arms; the heraldic dolphin is represented with an arched back as in leaping.” Many of the animals usually claimed as porpoises are really dolphins.
Fig. 7.—The Dolphin (after McCoy).
One of the most famous animals of this group, one with a world-wide reputation, is “Pelorus Jack,” the pilot-dolphin of the French Pass, known for many years to every traveller between Wellington and Nelson. This famous “whale” has been photographed scores of times, and his general form and large dorsal fin are well known. I am indebted to Messrs. Sharland and Co. (Limited) for permission to reproduce the photograph shown in Fig. 8. For something like twenty years he met every steamer that came through the French Pass, whether by day or night. His “station,” if one may use the word, was somewhere off the mouth of Pelorus Sound, and as soon as a passing vessel got within a mile or two of this region “Jack” would be seen racing along until he was alongside, when he would escort the boat for some distance before racing off again. Among various yarns told about him was one that he used to rub himself on the vessels, presumably either for a scratch on the back or to divest himself of some of the fish-lice which frequently infest whales. I have seen him on several occasions, and never to greater advantage than when he accompanied the little trawling-steamer, the “Doto,” as we were going into the French Pass. He kept alongside and played round the bows for over five minutes, and then sheered off to visit a larger vessel which was coming in from Cook Strait. In Hutton and Drummond’s “Animals of New Zealand” he was stated to be a Beluga, or White Whale, and was identified as Delphinapterus leucas; but this is purely a northern species. Waite considers it is a Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus), and says “the general colour of the animal is grey, curiously marked with scratch-like lines, which are probably caused by the cuttlefishes which form the staple food of the grampus.” In a pamphlet published in 1911 by James Cowan on “Pelorus Jack” it is stated that “he is a dolphin of a bluish-white colour, tinged with purple and yellow, and with irregular brown-edged scratch-like lines covering the upper surface of his body. His flippers are dark in hue, mottled with grey. He is about 14 ft. in length—as nearly as can be judged, for he doesn’t stay still very long—and he is blunt of nose, humped of forehead, with a high falcate (or scythe-shaped) dorsal fin and a narrow fluked tail.” By an Order in Council of the 29th September, 1904, it is notified that for five years from that date it would not be lawful for any person “to take the fish or mammal of the species commonly known as Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus) in the waters of Cook Strait, or of the bays, sounds, and estuaries adjacent thereto.” Any person committing a breach of this regulation was liable to a fine of not less than £5 nor more than £100. This regulation was renewed from time to time, an Order in Council of the 24th April, 1911, extending it for a further period of five years. The regulation was aimed solely at the protection of “Pelorus Jack,” the only individual marine animal, I believe, which has thus secured Government protection.
Fig. 8.—Pelorus Jack, a Famous Dolphin.
The Maoris believe that Kaikai-a-waro, as they call “Pelorus Jack,” has been known to their race for some three centuries, and a considerable body of legend has grown up about him. One European skipper, Captain Turner, of Nelson, met with a big white “fish” in Pelorus Sound nearly fifty years ago, and he thinks this is the same as the whale which afterwards took up its station towards the French Pass.
It was stated in 1911 that the carcase of “Pelorus Jack,” bitten by sharks, had been washed up on D’Urville Island. It was found, however, that the animal discovered there was a bottle-nosed whale. Meanwhile it is a fact that the “pilot-whale” has not been seen for some years, and whether he has “passed out” or merely shifted his quarters no one knows.
The list of New Zealand whales is not yet exhausted. Mention has just been made of the Bottle-nose (Prodelphinus obscurus), which is not unfrequently met with. A more interesting animal is the Killer Whale (Orca gladiator), often spoken of as the “grampus,” a word which itself is a contraction of the French grand poisson, or big fish. The killer is marked with contrasting bands of white or yellow upon a black body-colour. It is a fairly large species, growing to a length of 30 ft. It is a powerful and rapacious whale, and it is stated that as many as thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals were taken from the stomach of one of them. This is a large order, and perhaps the culprit died of a surfeit; if not, it certainly deserved to.
The killers sometimes combine to attack larger whales, and in Bullen’s interesting book he repeats an account of a combat which he witnessed between a bull cachalot and such a combination of enemies. Two hungry killers and a 16 ft. swordfish joined forces to attack the big whale. The swordfish launched himself at the monster, but the latter turned in time to receive the shock on the head, and the blow glanced off it, the fish rolling helplessly over the top of the whale. With a sudden rapid movement the latter turned, grasped the aggressor with his immense jaws and crunched him into two portions, which he promptly swallowed. Then, with a terrific lash of his tail, he came down on one of the killers, and “crushed it like a shrimp under one’s heel.” Here is Bullen’s conclusion: “The survivor fled—never faster—for an avalanche of living furious flesh was behind him, and coming with enormous leaps half out of the sea every time. Thus they disappeared, but I have no doubt as to the issue. Of one thing I am certain: that if any of the trio survived they never afterwards attempted to rush a cachalot.” Bullen is rather mixed in this narrative. According to a Dr. Frangius, “When an Orca pursues a whale the latter makes a terrible bellowing, like a bull when bitten by a dog.” He may be referring to a Right Whale, for certainly his remark does not apply to the Sperm Whale, which is a dangerous foe to all its enemies.
The Cowfish (Tursiops tursio) is a beaked whale, some 12 ft. long, which has been taken in New Zealand waters. The colour of the back varies from black to lead-colour, while the under-parts are white. It is a species of world-wide range.
So is the last of the whales which I shall mention, the Blackfish (Globicephalus melas), known in the Hebrides and the west of Scotland as the “ca’ing whale.” This is one of the largest of the dolphins, reaching some 20 ft. in length. It is a gregarious species, moving about in great schools or shoals. Its sheep-like habits enable it to be easily driven on shore in herds, when the animals are easily harpooned. Schools of Blackfish not unfrequently visit the inlets and shores of the North of Auckland. Bullen gives an account of an attack on an immense school of Blackfish which the “Cachalot” encountered when near Christmas Island in the mid-Pacific.
Any one interested in the natural history of the sea will find the study of its cetaceans is still in a very incomplete state. Few people know anything about them scientifically, because their occurrence and the opportunity of studying them at first hand are so erratic and rare. When a whale comes ashore it is usually in some inaccessible place, and if the fact is communicated to a museum the finder usually places a considerable price on his discovery, which makes the investigation too expensive to be undertaken. When our fisheries are properly organized it will be possible to study the cetacean fauna much more closely and accurately than is at present the case.