THE NORTHERN SEA-BEAR 711 



Tailed, and skinned upward of seventy-two thousand sea-bears iirless than four weeks 

 during the summer of 1872. 



s lt has been already mentioned that the number of the sea-bears allowed to be 

 killed annually on the Pribilofs is limited by the terms of the lease to 100,000. There 

 is, however, reason to believe that considerably more than this number are killed by 

 the natives; and it is further asserted that the total number of sea-bears visiting the 

 islands is steadily diminishing. 



In addition to the seals killed on the Pribilofs, a large number have of recent 

 years been taken in open water by British vessels cruising in Behring Sea. 

 The seals thus taken appear to be exclusively young males or barren females, 

 which have remained at sea during the months of May and June, when the great 

 body has gone northward to the Pribilofs. Well-appointed schooners are engaged 

 in this trade, and the method of procedure is thus described by a correspondent of 

 the Times. When one of these vessels is at sea, " and seals are sighted, the little 

 boats are hoisted out; a hunter, armed with two shot guns and a rifle, and two sail- 

 ors to pull the boat, take their places, and the hunt begins. A seal swimming on 

 the water, or perchance sleeping, is sighted, and the boat is pulled quietly toward 

 the animal. In nine cases out of ten, the seal takes alarm and dives out of sight 

 before the boat is brought close enough to use the guns with effect, and in no case 

 does the hunter shoot unless he feels sure of his quarry. The seal, when shot, at 

 once commences to sink, and the boat has to be pulled rapidly up to it, when the 

 carcass is ' gaffed ' and hauled aboard. This is repeated as long as a seal can be seen. 

 In many instances only one or' two will be killed during a whole day's hunting, but 

 at other times as many as twenty will be taken. After a day's hunt the boats re- 

 turn to the schooner, and the seals are skinned and the pelts laid in salt in the hold. 

 This goes on from day to day during the season. The seal has a chance of escap- 

 ing, and the percentage killed is very small. When it is considered that an extent 

 of ocean of nearly twelve thousand square miles is hunted over, the chance is slight 

 of the seals being exterminated by the fleet of fifty or so vessels engaged in the seal- 

 hunting business. If has been asserted that only a few seals out of every hundred 

 shot are captured by the hunters; that the balance sink or escape wounded, to die 

 later on. This is not so. On the contrary, a seal hardly ever escapes when shot. 

 Of course a few do, but the percentage is small, probably not over five or six out of 

 the hundred." Although it has been asserted that the number of sea-bears in the 

 open sea is annually diminishing, this is denied by unprejudiced experts; and it is 

 mentioned by the writer last cited that "the oldest hands in the business state that 

 there are apparently as many seals in the sea nowadays as there were many years 

 ago. There is, however, some greater difficulty experienced in capturing them. 

 The older ones have learned what a sealing boat is, and at the sound of a gun, or at 

 the approach of a boat, the wary animal is on its guard, and thus it is harder for the 

 hunter to get within range of his quarry. Yet, in spite of this fact, large numbers are 

 killed, and the business is fairly profitable." Of the two methods of sealing, the shoot- 

 ing in the open sea is decidedly to be preferred on humanitarian grounds, more espe- 

 cially if it be true, as asserted, that on the Pribilofs a considerable number of breeding 

 female seals are killed before their cubs are old enough to shift for themselves. 



