| Antique Print Whale Art - Natural History Print A lovely engraving from a British Victorian natural history book. This is a lovely image of a Beluga or white whale.
Nearly allied to the narwhal is the white whale, or beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) which is likewise an Arctic species. Baron Nordenskiold says that the adult animal is singularly beautiful, the glistening white hide scarcely even showing a spot, scratch or wrinkle. Five instances of the occurrence of this species on the coasts of Scotland have been recorded, the last of these being in the summer of 1879, when a specimen was found near Dunrobin, Sutherlandshire. In regard to its habits, Captain Scammon writes that, like most of the other members of the family, the white whale 'is fond of gathering in troops, yet we have observed that it generally advances in lines of seldom more than two or three abreast, or more frequently in single file, spouting irregularly, and showing little of its form above water. When undulating along in this manner, it often makes a noise at the moment of coming to the surface to respire, which may be likened to the faint lowing of an ox. Sometimes these animals will gambol about vessels as porpoises do, but at the slightest noise upon the water, they instantly disappear' |
