TRUE SEALS 403 



There are three families of seals : the Otariidae, or 

 Eared Seals ; the Trichechidae, or Walruses ; and the 

 Phocidae, or True Seals. Of the Phoeidae we have in 

 the North Atlantic region six species, all of which are 

 common to both sides of the ocean, and of which all 

 but one have been found upon the British coasts. 

 The common Grey or Harbour Seal (P. vitulina), grey 

 with darker spots, and with a black ring round the eye, 

 is very common on our coasts, and has a bad reputation 

 as a poacher of salmon. It is accordingly killed in 

 large numbers at the mouth of the Tay and other 

 salmon rivers. It swims far up into fresh water ; it 

 never resorts to the ice, but breeds in rocky places on 

 the shore. It grows to about 5 feet long, or rather 

 more. A similar and probably identical species, the 

 so-called Leopard Seal, is found in California, and in 

 the North Pacific. It has a close ally, Phoca pallasii. 

 Smaller than the Grey Seal, and smallest, indeed, of 

 the family, is the little Ringed Seal (P. fcetida), the 

 back of which is marked with large whitish spots. 

 This seal is common in the Baltic, and is found now 

 and then on our own coasts, but its proper home is in 

 the Arctic. It is of importance to the Esquimaux for 

 food and clothing ; and it has curious habits, making 

 for itself roofed habitations in the ice, like the " igloos " 

 of the Esquimaux. This is the seal whose bones are 

 often found in our Scotch brick-clays, which are of 

 glacial origin, and it must have been abundant on 

 our coasts in that Arctic period. It is closely allied 

 to the Caspian Seal and to the seal which inhabits 

 Lake Baikal ; and the presence of seals in these great 

 inland seas may perhaps be looked upon as a survival 

 from that same epoch. The Harp Seal, or Greenland 

 Seal, inhabits the edges of the drifting ice, and forms 

 the chief part of the great Newfoundland seal fishery. 



