384 ARTICLE BY DR .>. A. ALLEN. 



natives along' the west coast of Greenland, the annual catch for many 



years averaging about 80,000 seals. This species has also been 



the basis for centuries of a more or less imiiortant 



wintosea. g^^^j fishery in the White Sea, where it hns been 



carried on by the Eussians from time immcmonal. 

 iTova zenibia. ^j^^^^ ^,^^,^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^j.^^^ ^j^^^^^ -^^^^ Zcmbla and 



in the Kara Sea. 



4. Caspian Seal, Phoca caspica (Grm.). 



Eabitat: Caspian and Aral seas. 



This animal is about the size and general app.errance of the harbor- 

 seal. It gathers in large herds on the shores of these inland seas, as 

 well as on floating ice, and constitutes the basis of an important seal 

 fishery, formerly the average yearly catch being about 130,000 seals. 

 The seals are mostly killed on land, altliough some are taken on the ice 

 and also many in nets. They resort to the shores in spring and autumn 

 to rest and bask in the sun, arriving in immense herds. The hunters 

 then approach their resting place in boats, disembark noiselessly, and 

 form a line in order to cut off the retreat of the seals. On a signal from 

 the chief of the party, the hunters rush simultaneously upon the seals, 

 killing them by a blow ui)on the nose. The bodies of the dead seals are 

 piled up to form a wall, depriving the survivors of every chance of re- 

 gaining the sea. The wliole herd, to the number of many thousand, is 

 then massacred. 



These sealing grounds are held by the Eussian Government, which 

 derives an annual income from the sale of permits for 



rum™."' '"''^ ''^ seal-hunting in the Caspian Sea. 



5. Lake Baikal Skal, Phoca siberica (Gnicl.). 



Halntat: Lakes Baikal and Oron. 



This is a snmll seal, somewhat related to the ringedseal. It in- 

 habits Lake Baikal and the, neighboring Lake, Oron, and is said to be 

 common in these waters. A few are shot by the native hunters in 

 summer, when they resort for a few weeks to the rocky shores of the 

 lakes. In March and April some are also taken in nets placed over 

 their breathing holes in the ice. It is not, however, a species of nuich 

 commercial imijortance. 



6. KiBBON Seal, P/iocrt/«sc(a/a (Zimm.). 



Eabitat: North Pacific and Bering Sea, from the Kurile Islands and 

 coast of Alaska (nortli of the Aleutian Islands) northward. 



This species is about the size of, and somewliat resembles, the harp- 

 seal. It is not numerous and has never had any commercial impor- 

 tance. 



ir.— Gemis ERIGNATHUS Gill. 



7. Bearded Seal, EHgnathus hdrhaftm (Fiibr.). 



EaUtat: Arctic coasts, south in the North Atlantic to Norway and 

 (probably) Labrador, and the western coast of Siberia (Plover Bay). 



This is one of the larger species of seals, and while of great value to 

 the Eskimos of Greenland and Cumbeiland Sound, it is not numerous 

 enough to be of commercial importance. 



