Within the Deep | Page 9

creatures in order to get enough food. He has such a huge, barn-like body to fill, that only these big Cuttles will satisfy him. Whale-hunters sometimes catch a glimpse of terrific combats between these giants of the deep. The Sperm wins the battle, for he is nearly always found to contain great pieces of the ogre's arms.
Although the Octopus and the Cuttle are related to the Snail and Whelk, they have no shell. Their bodies are naked. Neither do they grow a backbone, or skeleton; but, inside the body, the Cuttle has a plate of chalk, which you may find on the shore. Some kinds have a long strip of transparent substance, like a large feather. Fishermen use the smaller kinds of Cuttle as bait. You will find it quite easy to cut out the "beaks" and "bone" for yourself, or the fishermen will not mind saving them for you.
EXERCISES
1. What is the meaning of the words "mollusc" and "octopus"? 2. How does the Octopus capture its prey? 3. How does the Octopus escape its enemies? 4. What creatures prey on the Cuttle and Octopus?

LESSON VI
THE WHALE
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,"