SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRLTLSH SEAS. 



THE COMMON SEAL. 



This species, Phoca vitiilina, of Linnaeus, is, par excellence, the COMMON 

 Seal of the British waters. It is found, although in greatly reduced numbers, 

 on unfrequented shores and sands, from the Orkney and Shetland Islands, 

 where it most abounds, to Cornwall, occasionally ascending estuaries and rivers 

 for a considerable distance, but never quitting the immediate vicinity of the 

 water. According to Bell, it occurs on both sides the North Atlantic, and is 

 common in Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Davis's Straits ; also Northern 

 Russia, Scandinavia, Holland, and France, and is said to occur occasionally 

 in the Mediterranean.* It figures largely in the returns of the Danish and 

 Greenland fishery, where the number killed annually of this species and Ph. 

 hispida is estimated by Dr. Brown at about 70,000. 



Low, who died in 1795, says in the 'Fauna Oncadensis,' "A ship 

 commonly goes from this place once a-year to Soliskerry, and seldom returns 

 without 200 or 300 Seals ; " these they killed by landing on the rock, and 

 knocking them on the head. He also says that in North Ronaldsha they 

 take them for the purpose of eating, and that the inhabitants say " they make 

 good ham." Though at present far less numerous than formerly, it is still 

 abundant in the unfrequented bays and sounds of the Orkney and Shetland 

 Islands; also, on the Hebrides. On the mainland, Mr. Alston ('Fauna of 

 Scot.' Proc. Glasgoiv Nat. Hist. Soc.) says it is found in all localities where 

 it is free from intrusion, especially on the North and West shores ; it is 

 also common on some parts of the Irish Coast. In Wales it is not un- 



* The Seal of the Caspian Sea was described as a variety of P/i. mtiilina, by Pallas, and as a 

 distinct species, by Nilsson, under the name of Ph. caspica. It is, however, notwithstanding its 

 abundance, very little known, and may, probably, prove to be more nearly allied to the next species. 

 The yearly average of this species taken in for the six years ending 1872, as given by Schultz, 

 is 130,000. 



