200 SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



dive to the bottom in GO fathoms of water and bring their prey to the 

 surface? As a rule cod are found very close to the bottom, especially in 

 deep water; in shallow places they are sometimes found nearer the sur- 

 face. It is not probable that seals in this region found an abundance 

 of cod or even scattering ones near the surface. Just how deep a seal 

 can dive and secure food is a mooted question. Mr. Henry Elliott gives 

 them credit of being able to dive to profound depths. The writer has 

 conversed with a good many sealers on the subject, but has never been 

 able to gather any reliable information. Sealers as a rule are not a very 

 observing class of men, for the reason that their interest is all centered 

 in the commercial side of the question, and think little of the habits or 

 other peculiarities of seal life. The most satisfactory evidence the writer 

 ever had that seals are deep divers was two years ago on the Fairweatlier 

 Ground, a large bank off the coast of Alaska, while on a cruise in the 

 revenue-cutter Cor win. We were about to return to the ship at the end 

 of a successful afternoon's hunt, when a large bull suddenly came up 

 close to our canoe, not over 30 feet away, with a very large red rockfish 

 in its mouth, which it immediately proceeded to devour. The fish was 

 alive and could be plainly seen struggling in the seal's mouth. Our 

 position at the time was some 75 or 80 miles offshore from Yakutat 

 Bay. We had no means of ascertaining the depth of the water, but it 

 could not have been much less than 100 fathoms. Bed rocktish is also 

 a species that generally swims close to the bottom, although like cod it 

 is possible that they sometimes feed near the surface. The writer does 

 not maintain that seals can go to the bottom in 100 fathoms of water, 

 but thinks they can dive much deeper than is generally supposed. 



All the hunters on this day reported seals plentiful, but could find 

 very few asleep. Had the sun been shining it is safe to say that the 

 majority of those with food in their stomachs would have slept during 

 a greater part of the day, for, as a rule, seals with full stomachs sleep 

 when the sun is out, the air warm, and the sea smooth or comparatively 

 so. Their time of sleeping, however, is not always when conditions are 

 favorable, for after a gale of long duration they are frequently seen 

 asleep when the air is cold and the sea uncommonly high. At such 

 times seals are completely exhausted. It is not an infrequent sight 

 during the winter and spring mouths, at the end of a long and heavy 

 gale, to see seals sleeping soundly in a snowstorm, with that por- 

 tion of the body out of the water covered with snow. In consequence 

 of the seals on this day being restless, a great many of the 34 taken 

 were what is known to sealers as "tinners,' 7 that is. seals about half 

 asleep, rolling about and scratching themselves. Sometimes " tinners" 

 are hard to approach, and at other times very easy. A restless one will 

 try very hard to take a nap, but just as he gets comfortably fixed some- 

 thing disturbs him; holding its head up he will take a look all around, 

 as if danger was scented in the air. These are hard to capture with 

 spears. 



Indians seldom pay any attention to moving seals when hunting with 

 spears; they think it a waste of time. White hunters, when they can 

 find no sleeping seals, frequently give chase to u tinners " and " travel- 

 ers," and in many cases are rewarded for their trouble. The hunters 

 on the Olsen soon found that few seals would be taken on certain days 

 if they only selected sleeping oues. Many haphazard throws were 

 made at swimming and finning seals, the majority of which were fail- 

 ures, but enough good shots were made to make the experiment a pay- 

 ing one. 



For several days seals had been observed chasing some kind of fish, 



