These Whales resemble the Cachalots, both in the vastness of their bulk,
and in the disproportionate size of their head, when compared with their
entire length. Their forehead, however, is considerably flatter than
that of the Spermaceti Whales, and they have no true teeth. Instead of
the usual implements of mastication, their upper jaw, which somewhat
resembles a great boat turned keel upwards, or the roof of a house, has
its under surface densely furnished with plates of a substance called
“whalebone,” consisting of horny plates resembling the blades of
scythes, placed transversely. These becoming thinner towards their
edges, are fringed with a long hair-like border, so that the whole
apparatus forms an immense sieve.
The Whalebone Whale—long considered as the largest animal at present in
existence—according to the testimony of the Rev. Captain Scoresby, seems
rarely, if ever, to exceed seventy feet in length; a size, which,
although prodigious, is exceeded by some other Cetaceans. Its back is
unprovided with a dorsal fin. The blubber, or elastic fat beneath its
skin, which is sometimes several feet in thickness, furnishes immense
quantities of oil, in search of which whole fleets were formerly fitted
out, until the entire race of these Whales has become almost extinct. At
a very recent period these leviathans of the ocean were not uncommonly
met with on the British coast; but generally they have been compelled to
retire for safety to the recesses of the ice-bound coasts of the north,
and even there they are rarely to be encountered, their number appearing
to constantly diminish.
In addition to the large supplies of oil fat, commerce was indebted to
them for the whalebone, formerly so abundant, consisting of broad plates
of that black, flexible, horny substance, sometimes measuring eight or
ten feet in length; and of these a single individual has been known to
furnish eight or nine hundred from each side of the roof of its mouth,
as well as upwards of twenty tons of oil. Notwithstanding its colossal
size, the Whalebone Whale is very harmless, living principally upon the
small animals that crowd the seas to which it resorts, straining them
from the surrounding water by means of its sieve-like mouth.