THE SEALS 



177 



fore limbs of the seals are flippers for swimming, the hind 

 limbs being close together. In the water they are very 

 active, easily catching almost any fish ; but on land they 

 are clumsy and ill at 



ease. They are mild 

 and gentle creatures, a 

 sharp contrast to the 

 bull sea lions, which I 

 have had charge at me 

 with open mouth in the 

 rookeries on the island 

 of Santa Cruz. 



Fig. 169. — The Fur Seal. 



The seals, Hke the sea lions, live in herds, and the mothers 

 are very solicitous for their young, holding them while in the 

 water and teaching them to swim as would a man. The 

 breeding season sees the beach covered with huge sea 

 lions and the small young ones, which are almost helpless. 

 The fur seals are very valuable on account of their fur. 

 They go to the south in winter, returning to the rookeries 

 in Alaska in early spring (Fig. 169). They assemble there 

 by thousands, where they are carefully guarded and killed 

 under a system that will not deplete them. Piratical fur 

 traders have threatened the existence of the herds more than 



once, and in- 

 ternational 

 complica- 

 tions have 

 ensued. The 

 harbor seal 

 IV^ftv (Fig. 1 70) is a 



fk;. 170. — The harkor Seal. commonform 



HOLDER, MAMMALS — 12 



