Observations on Seals and Whales. 219 



where on the outer and fjord coasts, islands etc. at ca. 76° — ca. 78° 

 N. L. 



In the summer, when there is open water in the fjords and 

 on the coasts, the fjord seal is seen everj'where here, but singly; 

 and it is evidently very curious, lying for a long time floating with 

 its head above the water or raising itself vertically in this to look 

 around. If they are frightened (for example, by some movement of 

 a man or by a shot), they dive down like lightning, but soon come 

 up again; if they are again frightened, they go down in the water 

 for a longer time. 



When the thin ice forms in the autumn, the current still keeps 

 some larger or smaller parts of the fjord ice-free; here the fjord seals 

 remain and can often be seen lying] on the edge of the thin ice 

 (October 1907); when the ice is not too thick, they break through 

 it, and these holes for ascending are almost circular, ca. V2 M. 

 in diameter, but otherwise resemble those of the other seals. That 

 these holes are kept open far into the autumn is seen from the fact, 

 that they were found in ca. 1 M. thick fjord ice at the end of Oc- 

 tober 1906. — At this time breathing holes are also common and 

 become more so as the winter approaches; they are ca. 4 cm. in 

 diameter, and on the thicker ice open out funnel-shaped below; but 

 gradually, as the snow layer increases on the ice, it becomes 

 more occasional to find any evidence of the presence of the 

 fjord seal. 



That they also occur in the North-East Greenland fjords in the 

 winter, appears however from the fact, that I found a hole on 

 ^^/3 08, which had been dug^ through the ca. P/2 M. deep snow near 

 a large ice berg off the west side of Store Koldewey. "About 

 a meter above the surface of the fjord ice the snow ended and I 

 saw here a spacious cave (there was room for at least 2 — 3 seals) in 

 the form of a vault, with snow as roof and ice as floor. I dug it 

 out to its fullest extent and found a large hole (85 cm. in dia- 

 meter) in the middle of the ice-floor, covered by 5 cm. thick, thin 

 ice, under which there was free water. Further down, however, the 

 hole was closed by ice (probably because the fjord ice and the ice- 

 berg had changed their relative positions), but was continued by a 

 small crack down in the ice (which Avas IV2— 2 M. thick). The cave 

 itself was at places ca. 50 cm., at others ca. 150 cm. high and the 

 whole of the roof (underside of the snow) was covered with small 

 clumps of ice and icicles as with a coating of glass, from the con- 

 densed breathing of the seal. I could distinctly see on the edge of 

 the hole, that the animal had used it several times (rings of frozen, 

 ^ by a bear (Ursus maritimns). 



1.5* 



