WHALE AND OCTOPUS FIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10425, 24 April 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

WHALE AND OCTOPUS FIGHT.

We were cruising in the Strait of Malacca, between the Nicobars And the Malay Peninsula, I hud the watch from eight bolls to midnight, and at) about 11 p.m. was leaning over the lee rail, Presently there was 11 commotion in the sea, right in the way of the moon, and I immediately went for my night glasses to ascertain, if possible, the nature of it. We edged away a little under the light draught of wind, so an to draw nearer to the scene, and presently were able to realise its full significance. A very large sperm whale was engaged in a deadly conflict with a monstrous squid, whose far-reaching tentacles enveloped the whale's whole body. The livid whiteness of those writhing arms, which enlaced the cachalot like a nest of mighty serpents, stood out in bold relief against the black boulder-like head of the aggressor. Presently the whale raised itself half out of the water, and we plainly saw the awfullooking head of the gigantic squid. : At our distance, something under a mile, it appeared about the size of one of our largest oil casks, which held 336 gallons. I.ike the rest of the creature visible, it was of a peculiar dead white, ami in it gleamed two eyes of inky blackness, about a foot in diameter. To describe the wonderful contortions of those two monsters, locked in a deadly embrace, is far beyond my power, bub it was a never-to-be-forgotten sight. The utter absence of all; sound— wo were not near enough to hear the turmoil of the sea—was not the least .remarkable feature of this titanic encounter. All around the combatants,-too,' were either smaller whales or immense . sharks, who were evidently assisting in the destruction of the great squid and getting a full share of the met'* -As we looked we. saw., the writhing gradually cease and the encircling tentacles slipped off the whale's body, which, stemed to float unusually• high. Nature, ' ? '.