Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 1.djvu/183

1911] A herd of white whales has been seen driven into a bay and literally torn to pieces.

Teeth, large, conical, and slightly recurved, 11 or 12 on each side of either jaw.

‘Mammals’—Flower and Lydekker:

‘’Distinguished from all their allies by great strength and ferocity.’

‘Combine in packs to hunt down and destroy full sized whales.’

‘Marine Mammalia’—Scammon:

Adult males average 20 feet; females 15 feet.

Strong sharp conical teeth which interlock. Combines great strength with agility.

Spout ‘low and bushy.’

Habits exhibit a boldness and cunning peculiar to their carnivorous propensities.

Three or four do not hesitate to grapple the largest baleen whales, who become paralysed with terror—frequently evince no efforts to escape.

Instances have occurred where a band of orcas laid siege to whales in tow, and although frequently lanced and cut with boat spades, made away with their prey.

Inclined to believe it rarely attacks larger cetaceans.

Possessed of great swiftness.

Sometimes seen peering above the surface with a seal in their bristling jaws, shaking and crushing their victims and swallowing them apparently with gusto.

Tear white whales into pieces.

Ponting has been ravished yesterday by a view of the