MO 



SEAL 



the arctic ami antarrtir regions. By Dr J. E. Gray 

 a large number of genera wen- distinguished, Init 

 recent student- of tin- |M-.-II- unite them und.-i 

 one or two genera. The Sea lions are ax follow* : 

 Eumetiniiiix (Olnrin) ftellcri, tin- Northern Sea- 

 lion, inhabit* |HI||I shores of the Northern Pacific 



from Califoiiiia ami .lapan northwards, anil I ds. 



on tin- Aleutian anil oilier islands in the Behring 

 Sea, The male is alH.ut 16 to 18 feet in length, 

 anil the female alxint half that size. Otarul fuoata, 

 tin- southern Sea lion, inhabits the we-t coast of 

 South AniRrica, the islands in tin- Bflighboarhoaii 

 of Cape Horn, anil the Falklaml Islands. Zulop/itu 

 <;>llesi>ii, tin- < 'alifornian Sea-lion, is considerably 

 (mailer than /.'. xtclleri. 



Of the Fur-Heals there are two genera, one belong- 

 ing to the northern hemisphere, Callorhinus, the 

 other t<> the southern, Arctocephahis. Of the 

 former there is but one species, the celebrated 

 iiurtliiTii Fur-seal, Callorhinus nrsinn.f, which dur- 

 ing 1885-9*2 became the subject of such complicated 

 diplomatic controversy lictween the United States, 

 the British Empire, and European nations. This 

 deal is entirely confined to the North Pacific, 

 no fur-seal existing in the North Atlantic. The 

 habits of the northern fur-seal have l>een very 

 thoroughly investigated by Henry \V. Elliott, an 

 American naturalist. This species breeds annual ly 

 on two of the I'ribylof Islands in the Retiring SIM, 

 and on two of tin- < 'oinniander Islands farther west, 

 and it breeds nowhere else. The seals arrive on 

 the-e islands in June and July, the males in the 

 former montli. the females in the latter, and they 

 leave them with their young aluml the middle of 

 Septi-mlier. not returning till the following year. 

 During the breeding time they remain on the low- 

 lying land bordering the sea. In 1870, after the 

 transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United 

 States, the Pribylof Islands were leased by the 

 United States government to the Alaska Commer- 

 cial Company for twenty years, nml this company 

 also rented the Commander Islands from Russia. 

 The company were allowed to take not more than 

 100,000 seals from the Pribylof Islands |x>r annum, 

 and the seal- killed were exclusively young males, 

 nut breeding males or any females. The company 

 paid to the government $50, (MX) per annum as rent, 

 mid in addition a tax of S'J on each skin shipped 

 from the islands. The value of fur-seal skins 

 shipped from the territory and sold in the London 

 market during the lirst twenty-three years of 

 American occupation is reported to have reached 

 nearly 33,000,000. In 1890 a new lease of the 

 inlands under similar conditions was granted to the 

 North Aiiiein-aii Fur sealing Company. Formerly, 

 in the earlier part of the year, the vast herds of these 

 seals, on their way to the breeding-grounds, passed 

 the ciHust of the state of Washington and British 

 Columbia, and were there hunted at sea by the 

 Indians. But British and American schooners now 

 employ the Indians, and kill very large numbers. 

 The schooners. Ixith of these and of other European 

 nations, also pursue the seals in Behring Sea. It 

 wan the atleiiiiit of the United Slates government 

 to assume exclusive rights over the Behring Sea 

 which gave rise to the diplomatic controversy. 

 The killing of the seals , n i],,. IK -ean has developed 

 to si|,.|, .,11 extent that it is feared the careful 

 regulation of the slaughter on tin- Weeding islands 

 will not IH- hiillieient to prevent t he extermination 

 of the s|H-.-ii.s. | n IH.SJI t|,,. tut..,] Humlx-rnf fur s, al 

 skins taken In the p<'lagie hunting wns l!l, I.VI, 

 valued at 8I72,3.~>0, but the numlier had increawd 

 to 4.1,77'.' in I s!m. In tin- summei of istll the 

 British giiveiniiient nnd that of I he United States 

 agreed to Mibmit the di|mte to arbilration and 

 nd a joint commission of expert* to the seal 

 inland* to examine into the question, the killing of 



seals being meanwhile strictly limited. The court 

 of arbitration, comprising representatives fioni 

 Britain, United States, France, and Sweden and 

 Norway, met at Paris in 1893, settled the i|iiestious 

 in dispute, and agreed upon a series of articles 

 regulating the seal-taking. The principal st>ecies of 

 fur-seals in the Antarctic Ocean are the follow ing : 

 Arclurrnlmlux iiiijresrrHi may l>e said to liclong to the 

 South Pacific, though it extends also into the South 

 Atlantic. At the lieginning of the lilth century 

 this species was. abundant on nearly all the islands 

 oil' the west coa-st of South America from Cape 

 Horn to the equator, and was killed in large 

 numbers at Juan 1'ernande/. Ma- ,i I uera, St 

 Felix, St Ambrose Islands, and the Galapagos. It 

 was also abundant at the South Shetlaiids, Falk- 

 land Islands, South Georgia, Sandwich group, 

 Kerguelen, and Heard Island. But at the presi -nt 

 time these seals have been exterminated in most of 

 these places, and are scarce in the remainder. 

 Some are still obtained at the South Shethinds ; 

 and on Lolxts Island at the mouth of the La Plata 

 there is a small 'rookery,' protected by the govern- 

 ment of the Argentine Republic. Fur-seals were 

 also formerly abundant on islands oil' t he west coast 

 of Africa from the Cape of Good HOJK- northward. 

 The seal in this region has been distinguished as a 

 separate species under the name AntoetplkatlU 

 /iisiHfi. It is almost extinct at the present day. 

 Fur-seals were also abundant formerly on Stewart's 

 Island, Antipodes Island, and others to the south- 

 east of New /calami, but are now scarce. The 

 skins of the fur seal was at first imported into 

 F.ngland for tanning, the wool and hair living 

 scraped oft' together. It was in 1796 that Thomas 

 Chapman invented a method for 'extracting by 

 the root the whole of the inconceivable quantity 

 of coarse hair that grows intermingled amongst) 

 the fur on the skin of the South Sea seal.' 



A brief survey of seal-hunting as an industry is 

 necessary to supplement the few indications given 

 in the almve account of the species. The Ini I 

 'seal-fishery' in the North Atlantic is that of 

 the ice lields to the east of Newfoundland nnd 

 Labrador. The vessels engaged in this industry 

 almost all belong to Newfoundland, some being 

 sailing ships and some steamers. There are some- 

 what more than a hundred vessels titled out cvei v 

 year for seal-hunting. The season liegins about 

 the middle of March, and lasts for about two 

 months. The crews land on the ice, and kill the 

 young seals which are not old enough to escape 

 easily by clubbing them with a 'gaff, and then 

 take off the skins, with the fat adhering to them, 

 and carry them to the ships. The annual catch is 

 alMiut 600,000, valued at 425,000. The skins used 

 for leather, and the oil made from the fat, are 

 among the most important exports of Newfound- 

 land. Seal-hunting on the West Greenland coast 

 is mostly carried on by natives, and the meat, 

 skins, and oil used for their own consumption. 

 Fleets of sealers from Great Britain, Germany, and 

 Norway annually visit the neighlmurliood of Spitz- 

 liergen and Jan Mnyen. The industry at Nova 

 /embla and in the White Sea, as well as in the 

 Caspian, is carried on by Russian subjects. The 

 hunting of southern fur-seals and sea-elephants in 

 the antarctic was formerly more extensively carried 

 on by American and English vessels than it is 

 now. The method here is to land men on the 

 islands when the surf allows, the vessels returning 

 afterwards to take them off with their liooty. The 

 animals are killed with club and knife, or with the 

 ritle. At the present day the total product from 

 the antarctic regions is only a few thousand skins 

 and Iwrrels of oil. The fur-seal hunting in the 

 North Pacific has already been mentioned. On the 

 Pribylof and Commander Islands only the young 



