WHALES ON THE CAITHNESS COAST.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 6, Issue 283, 27 February 1862, Page 4

WHALES ON THE CAITHNESS COAST.

ttoflQVAiW-qf' Hofquaiia ' ‘ (From the * John o’Groat ’ Journal.) Having occasion to be af.th'e shore on the evening of the 12th I ',' ti11?.,-' I Fas' slowly picking my way :b&bkii-from-: the sea-edge over the rugged And had' attained to but a few yards . when' a noise behind me as of a heavy body falling on 1 the water, arrested my attention Looking quickly round in the direction indicated, I observed a spot on the sea at the distance, perhaps, of about GO yards,, so disturbed —or what is provincially termed, “in a boil”—that I .was sure i could only be caused by same one or other of the “ monsters of the dpep.” Watching closely for the reappearance of the cause of this agitation, I observed by a motion on the surface of the water corresponding to the movements of the animal under, that it was steering its, course towards a narrow ,cove, where it most certainly would have ‘ stranded had it a little longer continued tlie direction it. was then pursuing.-y. Allvat- once, however, as if suddenly fithde a yare of its danger, itttook to and pursued its way round a point, seemingly inclined to steer along the coast northwards.. It" was now about six o’clock, and as I could no longer see the movements of the monster from my position, I made for the ‘ brae’ with all possible speed. On reaching the top of the point or headland towards which I saw the whale making, I began to. examine the surface of the water for the sinuous motions above referred, to, when suddenly, and Hot more-'than 70 feet distant, a pair of very large rorquals, rose towards the surface, neither of the two. being less than 70 . feet in length. As lam well acquainted with'the height of the rocks, and having about two- years ago seen a ■whale .of tlie: same species 75 feet long stranded not twenty .yards from where these two rose, I believe I cannot be far wrong in my estimation of their size. |T he jwo animals swam abreast, propelled entirely by the motion of the tail, which, as almost every one knows, lies horizor tally on the water.... The side fins or padciles, which are near the. breast, are quite motionless at whatever' degree of speed the animal is progressing through his native element. When the whale wishes, to turn to the right or left, a slight stroke of one or other of these paddles is discernible. These fins stand out from the body at an angle of about fortyfive degrees, and their tips are seemingly depressed a little below the line of their junction with-the body. In colour these appendages appear in the water of a blu-ish-white, and can be seen, ‘at a depth where the animals themselves , are not visible, the colour of the body being a. mixture of blue and brown, blended together in. such proportions fhat, when they pass, over a piece of sea-bottom on which sea-weed grows (the water appears to partake of the colour of the bottom) though near the surface they are barely discernible. These two magnificent specimens of the Celacece. rose often while still within my view, and thus, afforded me a most favourable opportunity of witnessing' their- various moments and unwieldy gambols. When they , ‘ blow,’or expire, the spiracles are very visible; the anterior end of their opening seems to rise up and forms a sort of angularlyshaped knob. From what I could see of those animals, I am led to believe that one inspiration serves for three or four, or even mare, expirations, for the two in question oftenlrose. to blow without raising any part of the head sufficiently high above watei to admit .of any inspiration. Hence on this account it Js“a common belief with fishermen . that the whales blow up water through their ‘ blow-holes,’ whereas the fact is that water, if it obtained entrances into, these orifices, would as soou choke or drown them as any of the land animals. The whales* at least the species under consideration, begin often to. throw or force out their breath when they are vet sv me inches under |the surface, by which water may be thrown up along with it or by the force of it; and besides this when they raise their heads high above water and expire, their breath baa a thick, vapoury appearance, and may be seen in calm weather at the distance of two miles or more.

After these two whales had, gone so far north that they were hid from me by the projecting points, of- land, they-came into nearer proximity than was at all desirable with a boat’s crew from Scarlet, who had a bit of an adventure, before they got ‘out of the way’ of thee:irresistible monsters. It appeal’s that this crew had been out with lines in the ‘ laigh,’and had about half of one hauled when they observed with. dismay the leviathans approaching their position in a course that w ould certainly have endangered tb eir safety had they persisted in remaining where they were. Discretion being here wisely considered the better part of valour, the line was immediately cut, and. a buoy attached to. the part unhauled ; the fishermen then laid on their oars and bent to them w r ith a will, and a few sweeps brought them quickly out of danger. They were not a moment too soon, however, for the whales came rapidiyiup; and rose so near the buoy , that, had the" boat been still there, it must inevitably'have been overturned.

These whales in the fishing season are almost always found near shoals of herrings, and I have heard the fishermen say that they are very abundant on this coast at present. Is this another proof that the herrings never desert our seas,' but might be found both in summer and winter if sought- • for ?—I.R.S., TJlbster.