THE ALASKAN FUR-SEAL AND PELAGIC SEALING. 409 



C.-G035, 1892) tliat all of the wounded seals wliicli escape capture 

 quickly recover from their wouuds aud in reality are not seriously in- 

 jured, only about 5 per cent at most being lost, other seal hunters, pro- 

 prietors and masters of sealiug schooners, and others who have had 

 access to trustworthy sources of information, admit a much larger ])er- 

 centage of loss, ranging from 40 to 50 per cent, or even higher. That 

 the first claim is absurd is evideut to anyone familiar with hunting, 

 even on land, where the chances of recovering fatally wounded game 

 are at a maximum. Only such seals as are instantly disabled can be 

 secured, and even many of these must be lost, since the specific gravity 

 of a dead seal is greater than that of the water in which it is killed. 

 Those ouly wounded, whether fatally or otherwise, dive and escape 

 capture. The less severely wounded may, and in many cases doubtless 

 do, recover from their wounds; but, in the nature of things, many 

 others must die of their iujuries. There is a wide range of chances be- 

 tween an instantaneously fatal or disabling shot and a slight wound 

 from which the victim may readily recover, witli obviously a large pro- 

 portion of them on the fatal side of the dividing line. It is necessary, 

 therefore to admit that a very large number of seals are killed in pe- 

 lagic sealing which form no part of the actual catch. 



11. The proof of the claim that 80 to 90 per cent (probably the latter 

 figure is nearer the truth) of the seals killed in j)elagic 



sealing are females is varied and conclusive. It is'so cent female^*'''' ^"^ ^'''' 

 stated by the experts in the fur trade, whose business 

 it is to classify and grade the skins in accordance with their value and 

 quality. The usual marks which characterize maternity are not only 

 obvious in a seal's pelt, but the quality of the pelt of the breeding- 

 female is much inferior to that of the "bachelor" seals, which consti- 

 tute the catch from the rookeries. The ISTorthwest Coast or pelagic 

 catch has sometimes been designated in the trade as the "female catch," 

 from the great predominance of female pelts. 



Again, dead pups at the Pribilof rookeries were of rare occurrence 

 prior to pelagic sealing in Bering Sea, being too infre- ^^^^^ 

 quent to attract attention, and generally due to some ''^* ^^^^' 

 obvious accident on the rookeries. Soon after pelagic sealing began in 

 Bering Sea dead pups became so numerous as to attract general atten- 

 tion, both by their number and condition, their extreme emaciation 

 clearly indicating death from starvation. The number of dead pups on 

 the Pribilof rookeries at the end of the season in 1891 was estimated 

 by good authorities at 20,000. 



It is further a well-established fact that the mother seal recognizes 

 her own young and will permit only her own to nurse her. Hence 

 every unweane<l pup which loses its mother is doomed to die of starva- 

 tion. It is further well known that the mother seals leave the islands 

 at frequent intervals and proceed far out to sea in search of food. 



12. From the evidence in hand it is obvious that in pelagic sealing 

 female seals are not killed by i)reference but from 



necessity, if any seals are to be taken: first, because ,n,^es'^"r°\ined^ ^^' 

 in the North Pacific the male seals are too alert and 

 travel too rapidly to be readily taken, while in Bering Sea they are 

 either continuously on the islands or make only short and infrequent 

 excursions into the open sea; second, because the females while in the 

 North Pacific are less agile than the males, being heavy with young, 

 and, arriving later at the islands, take more time for the Journey, trav- 

 eling less rapidly and spending much time asleep on the water, and 

 are thus more easily approached by the hunter: in Bering Sea they 

 52 



