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FUR SEALS 



We now come to the consideration of the most valuable 

 and interesting of all Seals, the Sea Bears of the Eared 

 Seal group, commonly called Fur Seals because they are 

 the species possessing the soft, dense underfur which pro- 

 duces the beautiful "sealskin" of commerce. Of the 

 eight different kinds of "sealskin" recognized in com- 

 merce, three— "Shetland," "Lobos Island" and "Cape" 

 — are produced from the skins of the Southern Sea Bears ; 

 and five— "Alaska." "Victoria" or "North West." 

 "Copper Island," "Kobben Island," and "Japan" — are 

 the products of the skins of the Northern Sea Bears. The 

 variations in the quality, and size of the skins are due to 

 differences in the age, sex and location of the habitat of 

 the animals, rather than to generic distinctions. Fur 

 Seals are valued only for the skins, as the oil obtained 

 from them is too rank to be refined. 



The Fur Seal is polygamous. Steller, its discoverer, 

 found it living in families, numbering eight, fifteen, fifty, 

 and in some eases even one hundred and twenty females 

 to one bull. An exact account of the full birth rate of 

 pups in 1912, showed an average family of sixty cows to 

 one bull, with idle bulls to spare. 



Shetland Seal is the name commonly given to the skins 

 of all Sea Bears of the southern seas, but rightly it 

 should only be applied to those taken from the Sea Bears 

 of the South Shetland Islands and adjacent groups. 



The cubs of this species are almost black, but the gen- 

 eral color of the adults is a silvery grey, blending into a 

 deep rich brown on the sides and the belly behind the 

 flippers. The underfur is of a reddish or deep pink color, 

 and being longer, softer and more abundant than that of 

 an}' other species it produces the richest and most beau- 

 tiful "sealskin." At one time Sea Bears were very num- 

 erous around the South Shetland, South Georgian, South 

 Falkland and other islands of the Antarctic and Indian 

 Oceans. In the year 1800, 112,000 skins were shipped from 

 the South Georgian Islands alone, and 320,000 skins were 



