200 FLESH-EATERS OF THE SEA 



SEA BEAR (Otaria ursina}. 

 Coloured Plate XII. Fig. 4. 



There are four or five Southern fur seals that have been 

 almost wiped out of existence by continual hunting ; but 

 the Sea Bear, or Northern Fur Seal, still resorts in immense 

 herds to the islands in the Bering Sea, though it is by no 

 means so abundant as was once the case. 



A full-grown Sea Bear is six or seven feet long, turning 

 the scale at perhaps six hundred pounds ; the female is 

 much smaller, seldom reaching five feet in length, and 

 weighing as little as eighty pounds. The male generally 

 is of a greyish tint on the shoulders, the rest of the body 

 varying from reddish-grey to almost pure black ; the under 

 parts are of a reddish-brown tint ; the female is lighter, a 

 mixture of grey and brown. 



The coat of the Sea Bear is the famous ' sealskin' fur. 

 When the skin is first taken from the animal it gives no 

 promise of the soft beauty which makes it so valuable, being 

 apparently coarse and rough. This appearance is caused by 

 a coating of long and coarse hairs, which penetrate through 



the thick soft fur which is 

 next the skin. These hairs 

 are removed in a very 

 ingenious manner. Being 

 much longer than the hairs 

 which constitute the fur, 

 their roots penetrate the 

 skin much more deeply. 



VERTICAL SECTION OF THE SKIN OF In order to r e mOV e them, 



11111 r L Iv osA.L* 



the dresser lays the skin, 



The coarser hairs (/;) penetrate quite through ... . . .. , 



the skin (s). with the fur downwards, 



on a table. With a long- 



bladed knife, as sharp as a razor, he shaves off the skin, 

 cutting it just deep enough to sever the roots of the bristles, 

 without touching those of the inner fur. The bristles are 

 then easily removed, leaving the fur untouched. 



The gathering together of the seals in the breeding 

 season is one of the most remarkable sights in the world 



