Figure 21. — Helmsman at tiller of the Tenyu Maru . 



and 16 were shot with a .30-caliber rifle 

 (table 35). The rifle was used primarily to 

 compare the relative effectiveness of high- 

 velocity bullets and low-velocity 00 buckshot. 

 Injury to a seal hit by a rifle bullet was 

 severe enough to slow its movement. It could 

 then be pursued and collected more easily. 

 Generally, a seal shot with buckshot had many 

 small holes in its skin. An entrance hole 

 made by one rifle bullet was comparable to 

 that made by one 00 buckshot. The exit hole 

 made by a rifle bullet, however, was as large 

 as 7.5 cm. (3 inches) in diameter, whereas 

 that made by one 00 buckshot was about equal 

 to its entrance hole. 



The proportion of seals that have been shot 

 from these ships and killed and lost (sunk) 

 has been relatively low because (1) harpoon 

 vessels can be turned quickly to pick up dead 

 seals, (2) seals are hunted only during favor- 

 able weather, and (3) the crew is very efficient 

 because it has worked as a unit for many 

 years. Seals killed and lost were usually those 

 that sank immediately after being shot, before 

 the vessel could be brought within gaffing 

 distance of the seals. 



Figure 22. — Hunter giving arm signals to helmsman as 

 the Tenyu Maru quietly approaches a resting seal. 



FIELD DATA 



Data taken for each fur seal collected in- 

 cluded the time the seal was sighted and 

 brought aboard the vessel; number of seals 

 in the group; behavior (swimming or sleeping); 

 and air and surface water temperatures. 



The seals were weighed (fig. 24) and meas- 

 ured, and the sex of each was recorded. 

 Stomachs were cut out after removal of the 

 skin, and an identifying number was attached 

 to each before it was preserved in a solution 

 of 10 percent formalin. (The stomachs were 

 not injected with formalin to stop digestive 

 actions as they are treated aboard United 

 States research vessels.) Upper and lower 

 canine teeth were preserved, either by col- 

 lecting the whole skull or by cutting off the 

 upper and lower jaws. The genital tracts of 

 females were preserved in a solution of 10- 

 percent formalin for examination in the lab- 

 oratory. 



SKIN HANDLING 

 The seals were skinned completely with a 

 knife rather than stripped (fig. 25). A longi- 

 tudinal cut was made from the tip of the 



49 



