OCEANIC MAMMALS 429 



for a while longer. Dr. Roberto Dabbene in a letter to Dr. 

 Francis Harper dated January, 1937, writes that it has almost 

 vanished from the Argentine coasts because of constant perse- 

 cution for its fur. Thirty years before, when he visited Punta 

 Arenas, a single skin brought a pound sterling. He saw but 

 two individuals during a voyage through the Fuegian canals. 

 It has disappeared from "La Isla de los Estados" (Staten 

 Island) and the Patagonian coast. 



In striking contrast to this depletion, however, is the wise 

 policy of Uruguay in protection and "farming" the rookeries 

 of these fur seals on Lobos Island off its coast near Maldonado. 

 This island is less than a mile in length, low and brush-covered, 

 but with rocky shores. A few houses are in its center. The 

 fur seals here have for many years been carefully protected 

 and managed under governmental supervision so that they 

 yield an annual return. "Commercial sealing was carried on 

 here prior to 1820. The present lessees of the island, operating 

 under the direction of the Government of Uruguay, placed 

 upon the London market, from 1873 to 1897, 319,746 salted 

 skins, or an average of over 13,000 a year" (C. H. Townsend, 

 in Jordan and others, 1899). Here is an excellent example that 

 should be followed by other nations of these latitudes, for 

 under proper management and protection the fur-seal colonies 

 might be made to yield a good return for years to come. 



NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL 

 ARCTOCEPHALTJS FORSTERI (Lesson) 



Otaria forsteri Lesson, Diet. Classique Hist. Nat., vol. 13, p. 421, 1828 (New Zealand). 

 SYNONYM: Gypsophoca tropicalis Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872b, p. 659. 

 FIGS.: Gray, 1872, figs. 5, 6; 1874, pi. 18. 



SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FUR SEAL 

 ARCTOCEPHALUS DORIFERUS Wood Jones 



Arctocephalus doriferus Wood Jones, Rec. South Australian Mus., vol. 3, no. 1, 1925 

 ("South Australia"). 



FIGS.: LeSouef. Burrell, and Troughton, 1926, figs. 12, 13, opposite p. 101 (photo- 

 graphs); Wood Jones, 1925. figs. 246-248 (skull and feet). 



TASMANIAN FUR SEAL 

 ARCTOCEPHALUS TASMANICUS Scott and Lord 



Arctocephalus tasmanicus Scott and Lord, Papers and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania for 

 1925, p. 189, 1926 ("Tasmania"). 



