208 CARNIVORA PINNIPEDIA. 



At the present time, the aggregate number of Fur 

 Seals killed in a year, in all parts of the world, is less 

 than 30,000; and the yearly catch of Hair Seals is some- 

 thing less than 250,000. The following estimates of the 

 number of Seals, of all kinds, taken in 1886, will give an 

 idea of the location of the different sealing grounds and 

 the relative commercial importance of the different spe- 

 cies thirty-five years ago. 



HAIR SEALS. 



Newfoundland, including Labrador and the Gulf 



of St. Lawrence 400,000 



Canadian Net Fishery, Gulf of St. Lawrence. . . 75,000 



Jan-Mayen and adjacent seas 110,000 



Western Greenland 50,000 



Nova Zembla, White Sea and Arctic Ocean 75,000 



Caspian Sea 140,000 



North and South Pacific Oceans . 5,000 



875,000 

 FUR SEALS. 



Pribilov Islands (Alaska) 100,000 



Commander Island (Copper Island) 30,000 



Straits of Juan de Fuca, and vicinity ......... 15,000 



Patagonia, including South Shetland Islands, 



and Straits of Magellan 15,000 



Lobos Islands, mouth of Rio de la Plata 12,000 



Falkland Islands 5,000 



Cape of Good Hope, including southwest coast 



of Africa, and islands in South Indian Ocean 10,000 



Islands belonging to Japan 2,500 



185,000 



All Seals are maritime and extra-tropical with the ex- 

 ception of a few unimportant species found in the Medi- 

 terranean and other inland seas, and in West Indian 

 waters. Seals are divided into two distinct families the 

 Phocidae or True Seals, and the Otariidae or Eared Seals 

 differing from one another in character and habits, as 

 well as in external appearance. Those species having a 

 dense coat of soft, short fur under the stiff long hair 

 which forms the outer covering of all the members of 



