The young males or “young bulls” go in large schools, but differ remarkably from the females in disposition, inasmuch as they make an immediate and rapid retreat upon one of their number being struck, who is left to take care of himself. They are also very cunning and cautious, keeping at all times a good look-out for danger. It is consequently necessary for the whaleman to be extremely cautious in his mode of approaching them, so as, if possible, to escape being seen or heard, for they have some mode of communication one to another, through a whole school, in an incredibly short space of time. They are consequently much more troublesome to attack, and more dangerous and difficult to kill, great dexterity and dispatch being necessary to give them no time to recover from the pain and fright caused by the first blow. When about three fourths grown, or sometimes only half, they separate from each other and go singly in search of food.
All sperm whales, both large and small, have some method of communication with each other by which they become apprised of danger, and this they do, although the distance may be very considerable between them, sometimes amounting to six, seven, eight, or even ten miles. The method by which these communications are carried on remains a curious secret.
CHAPTER XIX.
Nature of Sperm Whales’ Food.—“Sepia Octopus.”—Nautilus.
It has been before stated that the food of the sperm whale consists almost wholly of an animal of the cuttle-fish kind, called by whalemen “squid,” and by naturalists “Sepia octopus;” and at times, when he is near the shore, he feeds upon small fish, which are denominated “rock cod,” and which sometimes approach the size of a moderate salmon.
But the instances in which fish of this description have been ejected from the stomach of the sperm whale are but rare, while every day’s experience proves that its common food consists of that division of molluscous animals which naturalists have denominated “Cephalopoda,” and of which the “Sepia octopus,” or “sea squid,” appears to be the most common.
A few words on the natural history of this highly organized and remarkable animal can not fail to be interesting to the reader, as it has excited the attention of naturalists for many ages, from the remarkable nature of its formation and peculiar habits.
Endowed with all the five organs of sense, it is second to no inhabitant of the mighty waters in the complete elaboration of its organs, which has constantly rendered it a great object of attention to the anatomist and physiologist.
Dr. Roget, in his Bridgewater Treatise, under the head of “Cephalopoda,” states that “we now arrive at a highly interesting family of mollusca, denominated Cephalopoda, and distinguished above all the preceding orders by being endowed with a much more elaborate organization and a far wider range of faculties. The Cephalopoda have been so named from the position of certain organs of progressive motion which are situated on the head, and, like the tentacula of the polypus, surround the opening of the mouth. These feet, or arms, or tentacula, if we choose to call them so, are long, slender, and flexible processes, exceedingly irritable and contractile in every part, and provided with numerous muscles, which are capable of moving or twisting them in all directions with extraordinary quickness and precision. They are thus capable of being employed as instruments not only of progressive motion, but also of prehension. For this purpose they are, in many species, peculiarly well adapted, because, being perfectly flexible as well as highly muscular, they twine with ease round any object of any shape, and grasp it with prodigious force. In addition to these properties, they derive a remarkable power of adhesion to the surfaces of bodies from their being furnished with numerous suckers all along their inner sides. Each of these suckers is usually supported on a narrow neck or pedicle, and strengthened at its circumference by a ring of cartilage. Their internal mechanism is more artificial than the simple construction already described; for when the surface of the disk is fully expanded, it is formed of a great number of small, slender pieces, resembling teeth, closely set together, and extending from the inner margin of the cartilaginous rings in the form of converging radii to within a short distance of the centre, where they leave a certain aperture.
“In the flattened state of the sucker, this aperture is filled by the projecting part of a softer substance, which forms an interior portion, capable of being detached from the flat circle of the teeth when the sucker is in action, and of leaving an intervening cavity. It is evident that by this mechanism, which combines the properties of an accurate valve with an extensive cavity for producing rarefaction, or the tendency to vacuum, the power of adhesion is considerably augmented. So great is the force with which the tentacula of the cuttle-fish adhere to bodies by means of this apparatus, that, while their muscular fibres continue contracted, it is easier to tear away the substance of the limb than to release it from its attachment. Even in the dead animal we have found that the suckers retain considerable powers of adhesion to any smooth surface to which they may be applied.