SEAL 



5281 



SEAL 



To the former group belong the jur seal, or sea 

 bear, and the sea lion, while in the latter are 

 included the common seal, or harbor seal, the 

 harp seal and the elephant seal, or sea elephant. 



Some authorities include the walrus among 

 the seals, but while it is related it does not be- 

 long to the same family as those which are 

 mentioned above. See WALRUS. 



The Fur Seal 



By far the most important commercially of 

 all the seals is the fur seal. It has another 

 name sea bear which is perhaps better than 

 its usual one, for it seems to be more closely 

 related to the bears than to the true seals. 

 True, it likes fish and it spends much of its 

 time in the water, but beyond that its seal-like 

 points are few, while structurally it is very 

 much like a bear. It can move about on land 



of science have sought the islands as eagerly as 

 have the fur traders. Through the winter the 

 seals which make up this herd are scattered 

 about the waters of the North Pacific; some 

 of them never leave the icy seas about Alaska, 

 but others venture as far south as the coast of 

 California. But wherever they may be, when 

 spring comes instinct leads them back to the 

 desolate little islands. By thousands they ar- 



FUR SEALS, ORIGINAL OWNERS OF LADIES' SEALSKIN COATS 



far more easily and rapidly than does the true 

 seal, scaling the rocks and even running in a 

 lumbering manner. What makes the sea bear 

 so valuable is the soft, dense fur, usually brown- 

 ish black, which is almost hidden by the water 

 hair. A live seal is not beautiful and soft and 

 glossy like a sealskin coat, for the long outer 

 hair is coarse and grayish. 



Life Habits. Time was when there were 

 great herds of these seals, but they have been 

 killed literally by millions for their fur, and 

 to-day the few herds that remain are very small 

 as compared with their former size, and great 

 fear is felt lest they may become extinct. 

 Most important of all the fur seals is the herd, 

 forming a distinct species, which makes its 

 home on the Pribilof Islands, a barren group in 

 Bering Sea. 



Fascinating indeed has been the study of the 

 curiously ordered life they live there, and men 



rive, the old males, or bulls, first; and many 

 of them have some specially favored places 

 which they seize each year, fighting to the death 

 with any intruder. A seal bull is a formidable 

 creature, frequently weighing as much as 400 

 pounds, and he regulates his household and his 

 surroundings as he sees fit. 



Several weeks after the bulls have arrived 

 the females, or cows, come; they are graceful, 

 gentle creatures, not usually more than one- 

 fourth as large as their lords and masters. 

 These seals are polygamists; each bull gathers 

 about him as many females as he can, some- 

 times as many as a hundred, and over these he 

 exercises the strictest care. Other bulls will 

 try to steal them, but this he is prepared for; 

 and to prevent it he will fight viciously. Hun- 

 dreds of the females are torn in pieces every 

 year by these contending males, and the rocks 

 echo and reecho with the roaring of the fight- 



