818 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



now also utilized in the manufacture of seal leather. 

 This operation has already been considered in Chap- 

 ter XII. 



Hair-seals are like sheep in their peaceful social 

 instincts. They are gregarious, at least during the 

 breeding season — patient and submissive, harmless to 

 man, and fond of basking in the sunshine while out 

 of the water. Their affection for their young is 

 almost human. On land they are very clumsy and 

 awkward, as their flippers can hardly touch the 

 ground. But in the water they swim with grace and 

 ease, and are able to stay under the surface for 

 several minutes. Their food consists of fishes, crus- 

 taceans, and moUusks. 



Although the hair-seal industry is almost a thing 

 of the past — for the seals have nearly been extermi- 

 nated — more than a hundred thousand seals are still 

 taken annually. The only important sealing grounds 

 now are in the North Atlantic off the coasts of New- 

 foundland, Labrador, and Greenland. Many of the 

 sealers sail from St. John's, Newfoundland. One fa- 

 mous sealing-vessel, the Terra Nova, has already 

 taken many more than a million seals. Single trips 

 have brought her owners a hundred thousand dollars' 

 worth of seal oil. As late as 1924 she took oil valued 

 at eighty thousand dollars. But the glory of the 

 sealer is gone, for such trips are the exception, and 

 often the vessels do not make expenses. The Terra 

 Nova is a historic ship. In 1905 she brought Scott 

 and Shackleton back from the Antarctic, and in 1909 

 she carried Scott on his ill fated expedition to the 



