390 THE FUE SEALS OF THE PRIBU.OF ISLANDS. 



A little pup was seen to pick up a jjiece of bone in its teeth and shake it about as 

 a dog would a chip. It would be as reasonable to infer from this that ])»))« ate 

 bone's as to infer that they eat kelj) because they ])lay with it. Several i>ui)S have 

 been seen to play with the giant kelp (Murroci/xtis jiyrijcro) just as this pup ])layed 

 with the piece of bone. 



DROWNING AND TBAJIPLING. 



Traving had an opportunity today to apjyroacli the rookery closer "than ever before, 

 the causes of loss of life among the pups seem clearer. Mr. Lucas feels that his opinion, 

 formed at St. George, that ordinarily few puj)s are drowned, must be moditied. 

 Drowning depends upon the topogra])hy of the rookery, which also determines the 

 death rate in general. Flat surfaces of rock or sand, but particularly sand, allow 

 tiie pups to be trampled on by bulls; pups are either suffocated or crushed. Sloping 

 beaches of bowlders, if angular, permit pups to recede and hide; rounded bowlders 

 are worse than angular ones, and when the shore is steep and the surf strikes it 

 oblii|uely as at Tolstoi, a certain number of ])ups are drowned. The safest rookery is 

 that where the harems are located in volcanic shelves strewn with angular bowlders. 

 Sandy places are death traps for pups. However, the number of healthy, well-fed 

 pups drowned at this stage is small. Part of those drowned have become weakened 

 by starvation, and in these cases, as in cases of certain crushing, drowning is oidy a 

 secondary cause.' 



AUGUST 8. 



Dr. Jordan, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Macoun counted de.ad pups on Kitovi and Liikanin 



rookeries in the forenoon and lleef rookery in the afttM-Udon. Mr. Lucas and Professor 



'Thompson dissected those fresh enough for examination. In the evening tlie IvKsh 



called, bringing Mr. Townsend from Unalaska. Mr. Lucas immediately went on board 



foi' a cruise among the pelagic sealers. 



THE COUNT OF TIK&V VVVH. 



A beginning was made on Kitovi rookery toward a more thorough investigation 

 of the dead pup question. The rookery was entered and all the seals driven off, Mr. 

 Macoun and Dr. Jordan making the count of dead bodies together, verifying as they 

 went along, so that in almost every case both saw the pups counted. Probably not 

 half a do/.en were overlooked on the wliole rookery.- All the pui)s that were sutliciently 

 fresh to make examination possible were dissected by Professor Thompson and Mr. 

 Lucas. Probably all tliat had died within ten days were so examined. The great 

 majority of the dead pups died early, most of them having the umbilical cord attached. 



'Till' pups Iktc found dead Iroiii drowning on Tolstoi wrrc doubtless siek pups which had gone 

 down on the rocks of the bcaeh and while unable, from weakness, to get away were overtaken by the 

 surf. They were noted to be in poor condition. The mortality here ascribed to trampling, it must 

 be repeated, was at the liottom in reality due to a wholly ditterent cause, though tranijding in the 

 majority of cases was actually the immediate cause. The weak and ananiic pn|> sutliiing from 

 Vniinaria was step))ed upon because it had not strength to get out of thi' way. 



- The expiTience of 181)7 in picking up and actually removing the dead carcasses on Kitovi 

 rookery, after ii more careful count, showed that many hail been oxerlooked. While these counts of 

 ISfKi therefore seemed at the time to be accurate they were probably all below the actual facts. 



