Observations on Seals and Whales. 221 



and the largest female 145 cm.; the males have a strong smell of 

 musk. As is well-known, it is mainly this species of seal which 

 serves as food for the polar bear {Ursus maritimus), and we often 

 found fragments of skin, claws etc. of Phoca foetida in the stomachs 

 of bears; once ("^Vi 07 at ca. 80° N. L.) the skin of a newly born, 

 young seal; or pieces of bone and the like were left on the ice 

 as reminders that the bears had held a feast there (see also under 

 walrus). 



All the seals shot in the drift ice had pelagic Amphipods in 

 their stomachs, both larger yellow and the small white ones, 

 (which are so common at the edge of the drift ice), or only white 

 slime. But they also live naturally on the polar cod {Gadus saïda), 

 which is just as common out here as at the coasts and in the fjords, 

 where it is the fjord seal's principal source of nourishment (May — 

 August); we often found the otoliths in their stomachs, which also 

 contained the jaws of the squids, Mysidae and other Crustacea. 

 Only once did we find some small stones in the stomach of a seal 

 4i 07); and a Mya truncata shell with a piece of a Strongylocentrotus 

 was found at a seal hole in October 1907, — in other words, it gen- 

 erally takes its food in the water and not on the bottom, as e. g. the 

 walrus. 



Crested seal {Cystophora crisiata, Erxl.). 



This seal has not once been seen on the coast or in the fjords 

 of North-East Greenland. It was only on the voyage in (1906) and 

 out (1908) through the drift ice that it was observed, but there it 

 was extremely common, especially in 1906. It was seen already on 

 the first day we entered the ice, and the first was shot on 'Vt (a 

 young male). Its stomach contained almost undamaged squids and 

 Amphipods, while a second male shot later only had a whitish 

 soup in its stomach. The spot was at 75° 19' N. L., 4° 42' W. L. (the 

 depth here was over 2000 M.). On the next day (Vs) two young fe- 

 males were shot at 75° 17' N. L., 9° 23' W. L. As we gradually pene- 

 trated into the drift ice and this became more and more dense, 

 more and more of the crested seal were seen; as a rule they were 

 lying on ice floes — not specially high but at a steep place from 

 which they could conveniently dive down into the water if disturbed. 

 They were also seen jumping up on to the ice very adroitly or 

 floating slowly aAvay in the open water between the ice-floes. These 

 were mainly the younger animals; yet some very large ones were 

 (also seen. 



