10 DBPARTMENT OF THE XAVAL SERVICE 



.8 GEORGE V, A. 1918 



Bella, Skeena river, Xass river, Masset, Skidegate, Quatsino, Ucluelet, and the 

 important cannery known as Kildonan, at Uchucklesit, Barkley sound. As the result 

 of inquiries at these stations it was learned that serious complaints of depredations 

 by sea-lions were made at only two localities, viz., Rivers inlet and Barkley sound. 

 In each of these places damage had been so great that active steps had been taken 

 to diminish their numbers by the fishing companies affected. Indians questioned at 

 more than forty villages were unanimous in stating that the principal food of sea- 

 lions was fish, and that these fish consisted in the greater part of fish eaten by man, 

 especially salmon, herring, and halibut. In not a single instance was any wish 

 expressed that sea-lions should be protected, as no dependence is now placed on them 

 for food, clothing, or any' of the native arts or industries. 



Over 1,800 miles of coast line were examined, mostly in a small gasolene sloop. 

 Three groups of islands, forming breeding places, were noted, and a fourth indicated, 

 and the number of individuals seen was estimated at upwards of 11,000. In addition 

 to the rookeries, a large number of isolated rocks, used as resting places, were visited 

 and recorded. The rookeries and hauling-out places were shown on a map accom- 

 panying the report. 



Later in the season a second visit to the rookeries in Queen Charlotte sound and 

 off cape Scott was made. A number of successful photographs were taken, islands 

 not before visited were explored, and an estimate made of the numbers frequenting 

 these. The joint report shows that the injury to the fisheries complained of is of 

 two kinds. At Rivers inlet the complaint was that nets were damaged and destroyed 

 and vast numbers of salmon were devoured or mutilated, while at two localities in 

 Barkley sound it was stated that the principal loss was in the herring fishery, which 

 suffered largely through the presence of great bands of sea-lions surrounding the 

 schools of fish and driving them out from the heads of bays and inlets where the 

 most successful fishing had always been carried on. Complaint was also made that 

 they devoured enormous numbers of herring and halibut. 



As regards the food question, little information was obtained by personal obser- 

 vation. Three adults were examined, two of which contained no food whatever in 

 their stomachs, while the third was full of fish, including salmon, cod, and bass. 



A second kind of sea-lion was reported by Indians of Barkley sound as occurring 

 there, and from their description it was concluded that this was the California species, 

 Zalophus californianus. It is surmised that this species and perhaps the majority 

 of the individuals belonging to Steller's species came from the American side, as 

 the rookeries in the state of Washington are far nearer to Barkley sound than those 

 on the Canadian side. 



4. THE CALIFORNIA SEA-LIOX IX BRITISH COLUMBIA WATERS. 



The following notes tend to confirm the statements made by Indians of Ucluelet 

 in 1&13, that a second kind of sea-lion visits Barkley sound at times, though never 

 in large numbers. 



Dr. C. H. Townshend, Director of the New York Aquarium, permits the quota- 

 tion from a letter written on November 9, 1915, of a passage relating to a period when 

 he was the naturalist on the United States Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross: — ■ 



"I visited Barkley sound in 1889 with the Albatross. The sea-lions I saw 

 and heard barking at the time were on some rocks, I think not far from the 

 lighthouse. They were unquestionably the California species, which is the 

 only barking sea-lions in that region. Sea-lions do a good deal of moving 

 about up and down the coast. They do not confine themselves to any one 

 5 neighbourhood." 



