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THERE IS a postwar issue of Field and Stream magazine (September 1922) which includes an article by Major Lawrence Mott (Jordan Lawrence Mott IV (1881–1931)), titled "A Morning with Killer Whales," pp. 340ff. In discussing Killer Whales (Orca), it compares their coloration to the "strange" ship camouflage in World War I, and even to the costume of a harlequin. Here's the excerpt—
In the dull light the sharp black, and the very white white of the fish markings made them seem as grotesque creatures from some unknown sphere—and they also reminded one of the strange ways that paint was applied to ships' sides—for the purposes of camouflage—during the late war. The curious part of it was that no two of the Killers were marked alike—as far as we could see—and, at times, one or more of them passed us not forty feet away! Some had long white stripes—mid-body. Others had splashes of white all along their sides. A large bull…had a white saddle just abaft his back fin… Another's head was almost entirely white, and still another was evenly marked in black and white—much as the costume of a Pierrot.
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Henry David Thoreau, Journal (1850)—
Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
In the dull light the sharp black, and the very white white of the fish markings made them seem as grotesque creatures from some unknown sphere—and they also reminded one of the strange ways that paint was applied to ships' sides—for the purposes of camouflage—during the late war. The curious part of it was that no two of the Killers were marked alike—as far as we could see—and, at times, one or more of them passed us not forty feet away! Some had long white stripes—mid-body. Others had splashes of white all along their sides. A large bull…had a white saddle just abaft his back fin… Another's head was almost entirely white, and still another was evenly marked in black and white—much as the costume of a Pierrot.
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Henry David Thoreau, Journal (1850)—
Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus
