THE ORDINARY SEALS. 



275 



The voice consists, of hoarse sounds, sometimes 

 resembling the bark of a Dog, sometimes the bleat- 

 ing of a Calf, or the bellowing of a Cow. 



Family Life Every group of Seals is one family, 



of the A male always unites himself to 



Seals. several females. From about six to 



twelve months after the breeding season, the female 



gives birth to one, or more rarely two young Seals, 



which are pretty and cheerful little creatures. 



Old and young love each other with equal tender- 

 ness and the mother protects her offspring against 

 any danger at the peril of her own life. The father 

 enjoys the merry play of the little ones, and signifies 

 his approbation by a contented growl, and as his 

 constitution forbids an active participation in the 

 pranks of the young one, he follows its somer- 

 saults and rapid movements back and forth, at least 

 with his eyes. After two months at the utmost 

 the young Seals are so far developed that they can 

 be weaned. Their growth proceeds rapidly. After 

 from two to six years they have reached maturity; 

 at the age of from twenty-five to forty they are old 

 and decrepit. 



Their food is of an animal character, chiefly con- 

 sisting of fish, Crustacea and mollusks. A few spe- 

 cies are also said to attack various sea-birds, which 

 smaller Pinnipedia do not annoy, or even other 

 Seals. It has happened in Dusseldorf that Seals 

 which have been peacably inhabiting a tank with 

 Ducks, suddenly dragged all the latter under water 

 and killed them. In order to promote their diges- 



tion, some Seals swallow stones, after the same man- 

 ner as certain species of birds. 



A Seal-hunt is nothing but merciless slaughter. 

 Therefore the word "sport" is never used in connec- 

 tion with it; Seal-hunters talk of "killing," but never 

 of "sport." Old and young, large and small Seals are, 

 or at least were, all being destroyed without distinc- 

 tion. In this way it has been brought about that 

 nearly all species of Seals are much reduced in num- 

 bers and some are on the road to complete extinc- 

 tion. In many places but few remain of the large 

 herds which during the last century covered lonely 

 islands. The oil and fat, teeth and skin of the Seals 

 are commodities much sought after, and this ex- 

 plains the zealous pursuit of these animals by Man. 



Nearly all Seals may be tamed and some nearly 

 become domestic animals. They come and go at 

 will; fish in the ocean and return to their owner's 

 house of their own accord; learn to know him and 

 follow him like Dogs. 



Divisions of the The order of the Seals is naturally 

 Fin-Footed divided into three families. The 

 Animals. nrst are the Ordinary Seals, which 

 are entirely devoid of an ear-conch and of the 

 power of walking on their hind feet. In marked 

 distinction from them is the family of Eared Seals, 

 which are possessed of ears and have the ability to 

 use their hind legs for the purpose of walking. Be- 

 tween these two are placed the Walruses, in which 

 the ears are wanting, but which are able to advance 

 their hind legs under their body. 



Zhc ©rbinar\> Seals* 



FIRST FAHILY: Phocid*:. 



Much more numerous than all other families, the 

 Ordinary Seals populate not only the oceans of the 

 globe, but also large inland lakes, which are con- 

 nected with the former, or which formed part of 

 them in bygone times, as for instance, the Baikal 

 and the Caspian Seas. They inhabit all the zones 

 of the earth, but are especially abundant in the frigid 

 zones, and divide into a considerable number of 

 species in the north. Off some coasts these much- 

 pursued animals are still plentifully found, and, 

 speaking generally, they are not rare on any coast, 

 although their numbers continue to steadily decrease. 



Habits of the In their habits they much resemble 

 Ordinary the Eared Seals; in their movements 

 Seals. on the ground they differ from the 



latter quite materially, because they are not able 

 to walk, but have to propel themselves by a sliding 

 movement. It is only in the water that they show 

 themselves to be the equals of the Eared Seals and 

 display all their swiftness, for they swim and dive, 

 in masterly fashion. They dart through the water 

 with the speed of a predaceous fish, turning around 

 with lightning-like rapidity; they also can stay in 

 any particular place as long as they please. For 

 amusement they describe circles, from time to time 

 jump out of the water full length, chase or tease each 

 other, or play quite alone in the water, acting as if 

 they were intoxicated ; they come to the surface 

 lying on their backs, push themselves along while in 



that position, turn around and around, and act in the 

 oddest manner, sometimes forgetting themselves to 

 such a degree that a skillful hunter can approach 

 them unnoticed, within a harpoon's throw, and kill 

 them. 



Actions of They descend to a great depth and 

 Ordinary Seals occasionally stay under water for a 

 in Water. considerable length of time, but bv 

 no means as long as is averred by some writers. If 

 they are not pursued, they come to the surface to 

 breathe, on an average once a minute. It may hap- 

 pen that Seals, when pursued, will stay three or four 

 times as long under water; but at any rate they are 

 not capable of spending half an hour there, as has 

 been repeatedly affirmed and believed. Fabricius, 

 who described the Seals living in Greenland at great 

 length, does not believe that a Seal can stay under 

 water longer than seven minutes. Seals really sleep 

 in the water. With a few strokes of their flippers 

 they rise to the surface from time to time with their 

 eyes closed, breathe, go again to the bottom and 

 repeat the performance at every breath of air. That 

 they can sleep lying on the surface is amply proved. 

 The Greenlanders, who intimately know this animal 

 which is so important to them, have a special name 

 for each of its attitudes in the water, because they 

 decide, from the various positions assumed by the 

 animal, whether they will be able to approach a 

 swimming Seal or not. 



