NOTES ON OTHER SEALS FOUND AT SOUTH GEORGIA 



The following notes comprise the observations made in South Georgia on seals 

 other than the elephant seal. The species concerned are the Weddell and Crab-eater 

 Seals, the Leopard Seal, and the Fur Seal. With the exception of the Leopard Seal 

 the life histories of these seals have been thoroughly worked out by the members of 

 previous antarctic expeditions^, and these notes merely concern the occurrence of those 

 species in South Georgia. 



Weddell Seal , Leptonychotes weddelli, Less. 



This seal, called by the Norwegian whalers and sealers "Fisk Sael", is found con- 

 stantly, though in small numbers, at South Georgia. At Larsen Harbour, in Drygalski 

 Fjord, at the southern extremity of the island, there is a small colony of them which 

 make this place their home and they are always to be found there. In the other bays 

 odd ones are occasionally seen. The headquarters of the species is amongst the ice 

 further south. 



There are between twenty and thirty Weddell seals in Larsen Harbour, and their 

 pups are born in January. The sides of this harbour are very high and precipitous and 

 the seals live on the narrow beaches at the water's edge. In November 1925 the writer 

 found them lying about sleeping on the beaches and the level snow behind them, and 

 the skeletons of several pups were found. One young one of the previous season hauled 

 out at the whaling station in Grytviken in June 1925. It was about 5 ft. long. It came 

 ashore one evening and spent the night asleep on the beach, returning to the sea early 

 the next morning. It took no notice of the presence of men, but if touched it raised 

 its head and snapped its jaws. In breathing it made a shrill whistling sound at each 

 expiration: maybe it was sick. Another one, an old female in pup, was seen in Else 

 Cove in September 1925. It was very fat and was lying on its back on the snow well 

 back from the beach. When approached it made a whistling noise and snapped its 

 jaws and then made a rattling sound by rapidly vibrating them. The Weddell seals 

 are not molested by the sealers now, though until 19 17 the sealing licences allowed the 

 taking of this species, the catch of which averaged less than fourteen annually from 

 1910-1916 inclusive. 



1 For literature on these seals see Barrett-Hamilton, 'Southern Cross' Collections, p. i, pi. i (1902); 

 Wilson, ibid. p. 67, pis. ii-vi; Hansen, ibid. p. 84; Wilson, Nat. Antarct. Exped. 1901-4, 11, p. 10, pis. I, n 

 (1907); Tims, ibid.v, p. i, pis. I, n (igoj) ; Trouessart, Exped. Antarct. Franfaise — Mammiferes Pinnipedes 

 (1907); Scottish Nat. Antarct. Exped. iv (1915); Barrett-Hamilton, Exped. Antarct. Beige, ix, no. 4 (1901-4); 

 Andersson, Wiss. Ergebn. Schwedischen Sudpolar Exped. v, no. 2 (1908). 



