450 THE FLiR SEALS OF THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 



STAKVED prps 



It liad been ilciiied that the rookeries of the Uominander Islands show a corre- 

 sponding mortality due to starvation. On the rookeries at (ilinka, on .Medni Island, 

 however, I found the conditions even worse than on St. Paul. Pelagic sealing is 

 continued through July on the Itussian side, and a larger ])ereentage of the total 

 number of females is destroyed. 



Zai)adni rookery, of Medni Island, is a stretch of coarse shingle and rounded 

 rocks on a sloping beach at the foot of very high clitfs. Ln the sea are large rocks, 

 on which the female seals are now mostly gathered. On the shore is a small pod of 

 females and a number of groups of pups. No males, young or old, appear. 



In the lirst little pod of 20 pups, <) are evidently starving; S recently starved; 

 dead ones lie there, and there are 4 dead ones of older date, but also emaciated. 



Zai)adni rookery seems not much larger than Little Polovina, of St. Paul. On 

 the rookery grouud are 11 fresh-starved pups, besides l-t which seem, some of them 

 at least, to have been starved, but which are now largely decomposed. 



There are many carcasses of dead seals on the beach nearly devoured, and dense 

 swarms of snuill tlesh Hies abound, their maggots destroying a dead ])ui) or dead seal 

 carcass very quicky. Evidently of the very earliest pups only fragments remain. 

 The air seems drier and warmer than on St. Paul, and a dead jjup remains fresh only 

 for a short time. Many which have not been more than a week dead have been 

 reduced to skeletons and hair. 



A pod of 40 pui)S on shore is examined. As a whole they seem much less active 

 than Pribilof pups — smaller, sleei)ier, and more stupid. Seventeen of the number are 

 evidently starving. Some look plump, but it is probable that nearly all of these 

 laud pups are really starving; the large and well fed ones have taken to the water. 



Other pods show similar characteristics. In a group of some 200, about 80 arc 

 evidently starving. This is not a count, but a rough guess. The percentage in 

 general holds for all groups examined. 



In this record no effort was made to get full counts for lack of time. I have only 

 noted what I saw. It is very clear that the starving pup is in fullest evidence on the 

 (ilinka rookeries. On these rookeries traui|>led pujis must stand at a very minimum, 

 l>ccause the rookeries are narrow and rocky, ;>reveuting massing, and bulls are few. 

 There is little chance of drowning. 



One pup in the water has crawled upon a rock about 10 feet from the shore to die. 

 The rising tide will drown him if he doesn't starve lirst. 



On the edge of the slide at Palata is a little brook which has worn a small gullj', 

 and which is doubtless responsible for the slide itself. In the brook were 4 dead 

 starved pups, and in a i)od of 150 lying near it at least 50 more arc starving. 



The governor of ]\Iedni Island seemed rather sensitive on the subject of dead 

 pups, as though he felt that he might be taken to task for it. He spoke of the 

 tramjiling of bulls as the cause. I tried to throw the blame on the pelagic sealers, 

 and expressed my hope that wise arrangements might put a st(>\> to the loss. JJut it 

 would seem that the authorities think the less said the better on the subject. 



It is probable that most of the jjods of pups along the beach are made ui> of 

 starving ones, the strong ones being in the watei- and on the bare outlying reef. Even 

 a fairly plump one seemed dull and dwarfish, while among the others are all stages of 

 emaciation. The excessively numerous beach (lies make quick work of the bodies. 



