Science: Birth of a Porpoise

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Saint Augustine, Fla. is proud of being the oldest city in the U. S. It is also proud of having in its ancient vicinity one of Florida's newest and most successful tourist-getters: the big Marineland aquarium recently built 18 miles to the south of it. It is fond of broadcasting superlatives about Marineland's two tanks (of steel, concrete, tile, brick and cement), the biggest and deepest aquarium tanks in the world, the only aquarium cleaned by divers with vacuum cleaners, the only one where some animals are fed under water by hand, the only one where penguins can be seen swimming under water. The Marineland tanks have 200 glass portholes through which the fish can be seen from the side and from below. The tanks get 2,000 gallons of sea water, filtered through coquina rock, every minute. Marineland cost $500,000, is managed by Count Ilya Tolstoy, grandson of the late great Russian novelist.

Most popular sight at popular Marineland are the porpoises. For months one of the porpoises has been a particular cynosure, for it was known to be in an interesting condition. Last week Marineland saw a unique sight: the only birth of a porpoise accomplished from beginning to end under the scrutiny of science.

Porpoises, which belong to the order of toothed whales, are mammals, nurse their young with breast milk, must breathe air at intervals or die. One morning last week a staff assistant saw that the 600-lb. female, which had mated more than a year ago, was having violent contractions of the belly. Other observers gathered rapidly, but it was not until afternoon that the baby began to emerge, tail first (see cut}.

At first the baby's father ignored the mother, but presently he began to follow closely as she swam around the tank. Four other porpoises in the tank caught the excitement, milled around and signaled to one another by wheezing through their blowholes. The mother went down to the bottom and rubbed her belly, apparently without injuring the baby. Finally, after three hours, she completed her delivery. The baby straightway sank to the bottom. As though aware that it would drown if it stayed there, the mother made efforts to raise it to the surface, but she gave up after a few attempts and swam away.

A diver, who had been lurking on the bottom during the whole performance, retrieved the baby (see cut') and it was lifted to the surface. Weighing 25 Ibs., it was pronounced, as innumerable human babies have been, "perfectly formed." But it was dead.