28 



another that, a(lii]itiii<i artiou to the special needs or circnnistjinoes. A fur seal will 

 do what his ancestors have had to do to perfection. If he is led to do anything;- else 

 he is dazed and stupid. For these reasons our exjierinituts in Letter luetiiods of 

 cullinu killnble seiils hy sending the herd through a wooiIcmi chute ^Ye^e not successful. 

 The most experienced bulls would be.it their noses against a door closed before them, 

 if another seal had been seen to jiass through it. That one door was shut and another 

 opened is beyond their comprehension. 



X. PELAGIC SEALING AND ITS EFFECTS. 



KILLING AT SKA. 



By i)elagic sealing is meant the killing of fur seals in the open sea with lirearms 

 or with the spear and club. After feeding, the animals lie and slee]) on the surface 

 of the water ('uring tlie digestion of their food. Taking advantage of this habit, 

 the hunter steals up in his boat and shoots or spears the slee])ing animal 



On shore the life of the female fur seiil is sacred: she is like a domestic animal of 

 high value. On the sea she is a wild beast, to be killed on sight. 



INDISClilMINATE KILLIN(i. 



Pelagic sealing is, in its essence, indiscriminate killing, or killing without refer- 

 ence to sex, age, or c<mdition. Its effects on the fur seal lierd are precisely the 

 effects which indiscriminate killing would ])roduce on any other herd of polygamous 

 animals, as catth\ shee]), or horses. Other tilings being e(|ual, the nuiintenance or 

 increase of a herd depends on the birth rate; that is, on the number of breeding 

 females. 



NIMUKH OK cows. 



On the I'ribilof Islands the numlier of female fur seals (cows), exclusix e of the 

 young of the year (pups), is about double the number of males (bulls, half bulls, 

 and bachelors). The smaller number of the males is {]mi to hnid killing, the quota 

 of skins taken by the lessees of the islands being made up wholly of young males. 

 As the services of 1 male are ade(|uate to from 25 to 100 females, and perhaps a much 

 greater number, land killing, unless inordinate, can not check the increase of the 

 herd. As the females are at present about twice as numerous as the males, killing 

 at sea means killing at least two females to one male. The evil effect of such kill- 

 ing is immediate, continuous, and cumulative. 



NOKTII PACIFIC CATCH. 



In the i)elagic sealing of the North Pacific, January to May (May and .lune being 

 now closed mouths), the fur seals are killed while on their migrations. The snow 

 and ice of \n inter drives most or all of them from the island, while their m-ed of food 

 leads them to the southward. Their southward limit varies greatly. The females 

 and young males often reach the latitude of San Francisco * and perhaps farther. The 

 pups of the year are not known to go beyond Cape Flattery, while the old males 

 remain about the Fairweather grounds in the Oulf of Alaska. In the North Pacific 

 the number of females killed is about ]iroi)ortionate to the total numl)cr of females, 

 or about two to one as comjiared with the males. These adult females are in all 

 cases heavy with ]iup. Barren females are virtually unknown. Only one such case, 

 a cow, with deformed (abortive) ovaries is on record.! The death of a cow in the 

 North Pacific involves one less birth for the year in question, as well as for the 

 succeeding years of her natural life. 



* These matters are still much in need of investigation. According to Dr. Mer- 

 riam, the fur seals formerly taken about the Santa Barbara Islands probably belonged 

 to an undescril)ed sjtecies (now almost extinct) resident on Guadalupe Island. 

 tThe following account of this animal is taken from our field notes: 

 "On August 1 a barren cow was found in a pod of bachelors on the parade ground 

 of Reef Rookery. From an examination of tlie teeth and skull she was found to be 

 an adult cow, probably about 5 years of age. She was above medium length, l)ut 

 slender and of rather less than medium weight. The throat was very dark l)rown in 

 color; rusty below as well as above. She was killed foi- purposes of study. On 

 examination the maninne were found to be fairly large and to ha^e undergone path- 

 ological fatty degeneration. The glandular structure was obliterated. The ovaries 

 were found to be small, about one-fourth the size of those of the virgin 2-year-old 

 cows recently examined. The fallopian tubes and uterus were similarly atrophied. 

 The right ovary contained a small Graafian follicle and egg. The germinal spot was 

 visible in the egg and not im])regnated. There was evident no sign t)f impregnation 

 or of capacity for impregnation. No signs of corpus luteuni or scars of i)revious 

 impregnation were visible. The opening of bladder was so small as to recjuire a 

 probe to find it. There was no trace of hypera-mia, the tissues being pale and 

 Woodless." (Dissection by Dr. Otto Voss and D. S. Jordan.) 



