ELEPHANT SEAL INDUSTRY 



247 



away their open boats to the various bays to carry and tow back the blubber for trying 

 out on board the ship. 



At the present day the hunting is carried on by one of the whaHng companies, under 

 a Hcence issued by the Government of the Falkland Islands. The first licence for taking 

 seals was issued in 19 10 and the same company has continued hunting until the present 

 time. The coast of South Georgia is divided into four roughly equal divisions, of which 

 only three are worked each year, the fourth forming an unmolested reserve. The licence 

 allows the taking of adult bull seal only and stipulates that 10 per cent of the bulls 

 shall be left on each beach. As the elephant seal is polygamous there are always many 

 bachelor bulls on the beaches ; further, it may be assumed that the proportions of the 

 sexes born annually are about equal, so that the excess of bulls may well be exploited 

 commercially without diminishing the numbers of the species; in fact the numbers 

 may be increasing in spite of the hunting. The taking of seal is prohibited during the 

 close season between November i and March i . During the winter, from the beginning 

 of May until the end of August sealing is impracticable owing to the absence of the 

 seal, bad weather and the closing of the whaling station. Consequently the actual 

 period during which the seal are taken is limited to the four months September and 

 October, March and April. The licence requires the licensee to furnish an account of 

 the number and kind of seals taken, and to report and locate on the chart where such 

 seals were found in large numbers or rookeries, or where others were observed. The 

 licence allowed also the taking of Weddell seal until 1916, since when this species has 

 been protected. The taking of Leopard seal as well as Elephant seal is permitted, but 

 the numbers taken annually are negligible, rarely exceeding one hundred. 



The above table shows the number of seal taken in the course of commercial 

 operations since the year 1910. 



