THE FINISHED FUR SEAL GROUP 



WITH KKMAKKS ON THK HABITS OF THE FUR SEAL AM) TIIK PHKSKXT CONDI 

 TION OF THK SKALINf! INDI'STHV 



Hi/ Chdrli.s II. Tiiinisind 



THK fur seal ^^roup, iDoiiiitcd hy Mr. Hlaschkc and ivcciitly put on 

 exhibition in thr Hall of Maninials, is the gift of the late Mr. L). O. 

 Mills. The Museum has loni;' heen in need of just such a series 

 of fur seals, wliieli includes the adult male, females and y()unf,^ 



The fur seal holds a uni(iue place in the annals of international contro- 

 versy. Xo other wild animal has ever heen the subject of a dispute so ear- 

 nestly contested and so long continued. For more than twenty years the 

 -Vmerican and Asiatic seal herds have been under almost constant discussion, 

 and the reading public on two continents at least has become familiar with 

 the subject under such headings as the "Bering Sea Contro\ersy," the " Fur 

 Seal Question," or the "Pelagic Sealing Matter." 



The fur seal industry has been investigated and reported upon at differ- 

 ent times by international commissions and two courts of ai-bitration liave 

 solemnly considered it in every possible phase. The report of the Paris 

 Tribunal alone consists of eighteen thick octavo volumes, while the docu- 

 ments of the United States Senate and House of Representatixes, State 

 Treasury and Commerce departments, devoted exclusixely to the fur seal 

 subject, are too numerous to mention. For several years during the height 

 of the controversy the warships of Great Britain and the United States 

 patrolled the waters of Bering Sea watching every move of the sealing 

 fleets, and a number of revenue cutters has remained on guard even to the 

 present time, .\lthough tlie s(;aling regulations framed by the Paris Tril)U- 

 nal in 1892 remain in force, the fate of the fur .seal as the basis of a valuable 

 industry is still unsettled. Its continued existence as a species becomes 

 more doubtful every year and renewed efforts are being made to save it. 



The cause of the trouble is simply the value of the fur seal's pelt. Here 

 is the story in a nutshell. Before the great ocean sealing fleets came into 

 existence, the catch of .seal skins was made on the islands in Bering Sea 

 where the animals breed. Only selected males were taken and these were 

 killed under careful government supervision. As the fur seal is highly 

 pol\ganious there is always a natural surplus of males available for commer- 

 cial purposes. With the dexclopment of occ^an or "pelagic" sealing, the 



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