The fins and one lobe of the flukes are thrust into the air as the mouth is closed, and sometimes the animal rolls from side to side. At this time the whales are careless of danger and pay not the slightest attention to a ship. The quantity of shrimp eaten by a single whale is enormous. I have taken as much as four barrels from the stomach of a blue whale which even then was by no means full. Probably when shrimp are very scarce or are not obtainable, all the fin whales eat small fish, but during the last eight years I have personally examined the stomachs of several hundred finners and found fish in only four or five individuals. Humpbacks, like all the large whales, show great affection for their young and many touching stories are told of their devotion. If a female with her calf is seen the whalemen know that both can be secured and often shoot the calf first, if it is of fair size, for the mother will not leave her dead baby. This affection is reciprocated by the calf, as the following incident, related by J. G. Millais, Esq., will show: Captain Nilsen, of the whaler _St. Lawrence_, was hunting in Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland, in June, 1903, when he came up to a huge cow humpback and her calf. After getting “fast” to the mother and seeing that she was exhausted, Captain Nilsen gave the order to lower the “pram” for the purpose of lancing. Every time the mate endeavored to lance the calf intervened, and by holding its tail toward the boat and smashing it down whenever they approached, kept the stabber at bay for half an hour. Finally the boat had to be recalled for fear of an accident, and a fresh bomb harpoon was fired into the mother, causing instant death. The faithful calf now came and lay alongside the body of its dead mother, where it was badly lanced but not killed. Owing to its position it was found impossible to kill it, so another bomb harpoon was fired into it. Even this did not complete the tragedy and it required another lance stroke to finish the gallant little whale.[3] Footnote 3: “The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland.” By J. G. Millais. Longmans, Green, & Co., p. 238. Captain H. G. Melsom tells me that in Iceland a female humpback was killed, and her calf would not leave the ship which was towing its dead mother but followed the vessel until it was close to the station. Humpbacks have a bad reputation among the Norwegians and it is seldom that a boat is sent out to lance a whale of this species. The gunners say that there is too much danger in the flukes and long flippers and that sad experience has given them a wholesome respect. Usually, if the animal is too “sick” to require a second harpoon it will be drawn close up beside the ship and lanced from the bow.