ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1927 153 



PHOTOGRAPHS OF SEAL ROOKERIES 



Photographs of the fur-seal rookeries were taken in July. Similar 

 ones were taken in 1922 and in 1917. The taking of these photo- 

 graphs at 5-year intervals provides a valuable record of seal life and 

 of general rookery conditions, supplementing counts of animals and 

 other data of a scientific character. Foggy weather at the time that 

 the work had to be done in some instances prevented securing satis- 

 factory negatives in 1927. 



FOXES 



On both St. Paul and St. Geoi'ge Islands the foxes are fed through- 

 out the winter season. Preserved seal meat and cooked rations 

 prepared from cereals and other foodstuffs are used. The feeding is 

 continued so long as it appears that the natural supply of food is 

 inadequate to meet requirements. In the summer season the foxes 

 subsist on birds, birds' eggs, and miscellaneous animal life washed 

 up on the beaches. 



TRAPPING SEASON OF 1927-28 



During the season of 1927-28, 278 blue and 15 white fox pelts were 

 taken, of which 47 blue and 15 white pelts were taken on St. Paul 

 Island and 231 blue pelts on St. George Island. There were also 

 trapped, marked, and released for breeding purposes 149 foxes on 

 St. Paul Island and 336 on St. George Island. These figures under- 

 state the reserved stock of breeders, for not all the animals in the 

 herds are taken in the traps. 



REINDEER 



A census of the reindeer herds, taken at about the close of the 

 year, showed approximately 250 animals in the St. Paul Island herd 

 and 50 on St. George Island. From January to September, inclusive, 

 nine reindeer were used for food on St. Paul Island. 



FUR-SEAL SKINS 



SHIPMENTS 



Only one shipment of fur-seal skins was made from the Pribilof 

 Islands in the calendar year 1927. This consisted of 25,006 skins, as 

 follows: From St. Paul Island 546 taken in the calendar year 1926 

 and 18,499 taken in 1927; from St. George Island 282 taken in the 

 calendar year 1926 and 5,679 taken in 1927. The shipment was made 

 from the islands in August on the U. S. S. Vega, which arrived at 

 Bremerton, Wash., on August 25. The skins were shipped from 

 Bremerton on August 27 via Puget Sound Navigation Co., Union 

 Pacific Railroad, and Wabash Railway to St. Louis, Mo., where they 

 were delivered to the bureau's selling agents on September 6. 



SALES 



In 1927 a total of 23,561 fur-seal sldns taken on the Pribilof Islands 

 were sold at two public auction sales. There also were sold at special 

 sales 57 fur-seal skins taken on those islands. In the detailed state- 

 ments, which follow, the sales of other fur-seal skins sold by the 



