Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No 4, October 1898

<h2><SPAN name="THE_BOTTLE_NOSE_DOLPHIN" id="THE_BOTTLE_NOSE_DOLPHIN"></SPAN> THE BOTTLE-NOSE DOLPHIN.</h2> <p>DOLPHINS, according to the best authorities, inhabit all oceans, and undertake great migrations, but are the only Whales which frequent the rivers or even spend their whole lives in them, or in the lakes connected with them. They are all gregarious, some of them collecting in very large shoals, and roaming about the sea together for weeks and weeks. Their liveliness, playfulness, and lack of shyness have earned them the friendship of sailors and poets from the remotest ages.</p> <p>The Bottle-nose Dolphin is one of the best known members of the family. The snout is very long, like a beak, and protrudes from twelve to twenty-four inches. The range of this Dolphin seems to be restricted to the Arctic Ocean and the north of the Atlantic, but it is known to make regular migrations a considerable distance south of it. Occasionally it appears on the coast of Great Britain. Cuttlefish, Mollusks, and small fry compose its food.</p> <p>Kuekenthal declares that its diving powers are remarkable; 300 fathoms of line were taken off by a harpooned Bottle-nose which remained forty-five minutes under water. They swim with such extraordinary speed that they not only follow the course of the swiftest steamer with ease, but gambol near it on their way, circling around it at will, and without being left behind. Occasionally one of them jerks himself up into the air, and, turning a somersault, falls noiselessly back into the water and hurriedly resumes his former position.</p> <p>Several years ago we saw a school of Dolphins swimming and frolicking in the East River on the way from New York Bay to Long Island Sound. They seemed to us like gigantic Swine, their motions being similar to those that precipitated themselves, according to the New Testament, into the sea. They are very interesting to watch, and travelers find great pleasure in their company in crossing the ocean. Sometimes a small school of Dolphins will play about the ship for days at a time, affording constant amusement to the spectators.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />