various nationalities continued 

 taking them. Finally, in 1911, all 

 killing was prohibited. This gave 

 a chance for the remnant of the 

 once-abundant sea-otter herd to re- 

 establish itself in the Aleutian 

 Islands area. 



Sea otters lead a community 

 existence. They live in a unit 

 known as a pod, and stay very much 

 in one locality. Most of their life 

 is spent on the ocean's surface 

 where they feed, rest, play, and rear 

 young. The young are born ashore, 

 and births occur at any time 

 throughout the year. Sea-otter 

 pups are taken care of solely by 

 their mother. Males take no in- 

 terest in the young, but frolic to- 

 gether in the kelp beds, which all 

 sea otters frequent because the 

 thickly growing fronds afford pro- 

 tection from killer whales, their 

 only enemy at sea. 



Sea otters weigh from 70 to 90 

 pounds, are about 4 feet long, and 

 have a thick tail a foot long. Their 

 fur is a rich dark brown or black, 

 lustered with gold or silver. Their 

 white-whiskered faces appear tooth- 

 less and make them look like quiz- 

 zical old men — the reason for their 

 nickname "old man of the sea." But 

 sea otters do have teeth, and in com- 

 mon with man have toothaches. 

 Cavities are frequent. Part of this 

 trouble may be the result of break- 

 ing open hard shells with their teeth. 

 The sea urchin is the principal item 

 of diet, with mussels next. Rock 

 oysters, scallops, sculpins, chitons, 

 snails, limpets, flounders, and crabs 

 are all eaten in their entirety. After 

 eating, sea otters delicately lick 

 their paws, either to savor the last 



morsel of food or because of ha- 

 bitual cleanliness. 



Sea otters may not he taken wider 

 any eircimistances. 



Alaska fur seal — From its 

 oceanic wintering grounds, the 

 world's largest and most valuable 

 fur-seal herd returns to the Pribilof 

 Islands every summer. Once nearly 

 exterminated by fur hunters, this 

 herd is now approaching its peak 

 under the management of the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, whose success 

 with the seals is an outstanding ex- 

 ample of conservation in action. 



In 1941, Japan abrogated the fur- 

 seal convention of 1911. In 1942, 

 we made a provisional agreement 

 with Canada for the protection of 

 these seals, the only fur-coated seal 

 in Alaska waters. Under this 

 agreement, 20 percent of the seal- 

 skins, taken primarily from the 3- 

 year-old bachelors, goes to Canada, 

 and 80 percent to the United States. 

 During the past 10 years, the United 

 States has netted some $1,500,000 a 

 year on its share of the 65,000 pelts 

 taken annually. 



This seal which puts so much 

 money into Uncle Sam's pocket has 

 its own particular range, and 

 doesn't to any gi-eat extent associ- 

 ate with other species of seals. It 

 comes ashore only in summer to 

 breed and rear its young. It spends 

 the rest of the year at sea. Return- 

 ing from this watery winter resort, 

 adult males reach the Pribilofs 

 about the first of May; adult fe- 

 males and older bachelors arrive 

 principally in June and July; 2- 

 year-olds get there in July. One 

 reason for this staggered arrival is 

 that the adult males winter nearest 



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