ON WHALES AND SEALS.
5
bone and oil.
Producing but a single young one at a birth,
this huge and harmless mammal will probably disappear unless
measures are taken for its preservation. The same may be said
of the other whalebone whales which are pursued for prot,
and of the dugong and manatee, the oil, skin and skeletons
of which are of value.
The huge Pacic grey whale (Rime/zi—
7zectes glaucus) of the lagoons of the Californian coast has, indeed,
been entirely destroyed by man.
The effect of the slaughter of hundreds of the ca’ing whale
(Globi0œp/zalus meZas) is not so clear, but the XiphOid whales
captured in the north seas for their oil are in greater danger.
In
no species has the inability of recuperation from constant attacks
been better illustrated than in the sperm-whale, the numbers
of which have been seriously diminished within recent times.
The effect of man’s keen pursuit is also well shown in the
seals, Which are now so scarce on many parts of our own shores.
Only in the more remote regions (as in the sound of Harris)
are
they to be met with in considerable numbers.
Yet here
and there the absence of interference and the presence
of a
favourite food may occasi0nally lead to their appearance
in
larger numbers, as at the mouth of the Tay.
Man’s effective
influence on them in their headquarters in the Arctic seas is
unchallenged, since their breediug places are on land.
These large air—breathing marine forms, therefore, occupy a
.
special position, and make a contrast with the majority of the
types we have now to consider.
Of great importance in connection with the subsequent
groups is the plenitude and variety of marine plants.
Familiar
forms of these are the green,
red and olive weeds of the rocky
shores and tidal pools, and the grass—wrack of the muddy ats.
In certain places indeed the perennial growth of the olive
weeds was formerly of ”at least as much importance to the
inhabitants as their grain—crops.
The immense Sargasso—sea
off the Azores, and the smaller ones in the Atlantic, again,
have long been a source of interest and wonder. Various
naturalists further have noted the discolorati0n of the sea
from the abundance of microscopic plants, have observed the
occurrence of vast masses of diatoms in the south Pacic, and
5
bone and oil.
Producing but a single young one at a birth,
this huge and harmless mammal will probably disappear unless
measures are taken for its preservation. The same may be said
of the other whalebone whales which are pursued for prot,
and of the dugong and manatee, the oil, skin and skeletons
of which are of value.
The huge Pacic grey whale (Rime/zi—
7zectes glaucus) of the lagoons of the Californian coast has, indeed,
been entirely destroyed by man.
The effect of the slaughter of hundreds of the ca’ing whale
(Globi0œp/zalus meZas) is not so clear, but the XiphOid whales
captured in the north seas for their oil are in greater danger.
In
no species has the inability of recuperation from constant attacks
been better illustrated than in the sperm-whale, the numbers
of which have been seriously diminished within recent times.
The effect of man’s keen pursuit is also well shown in the
seals, Which are now so scarce on many parts of our own shores.
Only in the more remote regions (as in the sound of Harris)
are
they to be met with in considerable numbers.
Yet here
and there the absence of interference and the presence
of a
favourite food may occasi0nally lead to their appearance
in
larger numbers, as at the mouth of the Tay.
Man’s effective
influence on them in their headquarters in the Arctic seas is
unchallenged, since their breediug places are on land.
These large air—breathing marine forms, therefore, occupy a
.
special position, and make a contrast with the majority of the
types we have now to consider.
Of great importance in connection with the subsequent
groups is the plenitude and variety of marine plants.
Familiar
forms of these are the green,
red and olive weeds of the rocky
shores and tidal pools, and the grass—wrack of the muddy ats.
In certain places indeed the perennial growth of the olive
weeds was formerly of ”at least as much importance to the
inhabitants as their grain—crops.
The immense Sargasso—sea
off the Azores, and the smaller ones in the Atlantic, again,
have long been a source of interest and wonder. Various
naturalists further have noted the discolorati0n of the sea
from the abundance of microscopic plants, have observed the
occurrence of vast masses of diatoms in the south Pacic, and