Debate between bird and fish of the debates may be from 2100 BC. The bird and fish debate is a 190-line text of cuneiform script. It begins with a discussion of the gods having given Mesopotamia and dwelling places for humans; for water for the fields, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the marshes, marshland, grazing lands for humans, and the birds of the marshes, and fish are all given. The debate then begins starting with Fish addressing Bird. The initial speech of Fish: The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs continue: Bird replies: Bird continues: After the initial speech and retort, Fish attacks Bird's nest. Battle
Blue whale Naturae" of 1758, would have known this and may have intended the ironic double meaning. Herman Melville called this species "sulphur-bottom" in his novel "Moby-Dick" (1851) due to an orange-brown or yellow tinge on the underparts from diatom films on the skin. Other common names for the blue whale have included "Sibbald's rorqual" (after Sibbald, who first described the species), the "great blue whale" and the "great northern rorqual". These names have now fallen into disuse. The first known usage of the term "blue whale" was in Melville's "Moby-Dick", which only mentions it in passing and does not specifically attribute