30 



Amerit-an or the Russian islands can be permanent unless it shall provide for the cessa- 

 tion of the iudiscriniiuate killing of fur seals, both on the feeding grounds and on 

 their migrations. There can be no "ojien season" for the killing of females if the 

 herd is to be kept intact. 



I'lJKGXANCY OF FKMALES AT SEA. 



As stated above, all females taken at sea on the migrations, except yearlings and 

 2-vear-olds, are pregnant. Those taken at sea while on feeding excursions are, if 3 

 years or more of age, both nursing and i)reguant. From this number must be 

 excepted about 7 per cent w hose pups have been crushed to death and who are preg- 

 nant, but no longer nursing. All 2-year-old fenuiles are itregnant, but not in milk. 



THE VIRGIN YEAHLINGS. 



The yearling females have undeveloped ovaries. They do notaiipear on the islands 

 till the tirst week in August. They then roam freely over rookeries and hauling 

 grounds as privileged characters. Many of them play with the pu])s, much as little 

 girls ])lay with dolls. In the fall, after' the pui>s have taken on their gray coat, it is 

 not easy'to distinguish the yearling females from them. The yearling males are 

 larger. ' Among tlie pups no such marked difference is noted, the females being but 

 slightly smaller than the males. 



In niiml)ers the nursing fenuiles are about equal to all other classes of seals taken 

 together (pni)S excei)ted). 



XI. LOCATION OF FEEDING GROUNDS. 



It is known that female seals feed at great and various distances from the islands, 

 and that they go in various diiectious to the southeast, south, southwest, and west- 

 ward for this purpose. There is no way of determining accurately the pi'riod of 

 absence or the; distance traveled by any individual, because the individuals can 

 rarely be marked or continuously observed. The length of absence ranges from a 

 few days to a week or more, probably being longer as the pup grows older. The 

 nursing females are known to go as far as 200 miles from the islands. 



NO SEALS IN THE NOHTHEA.ST QUADRANT. 



According to Capt. Horatio D. Smith, of the revenue cutter I'crrj/, very few seals 

 feed in the cold waters to the north and northeast of the I'riliilof Islands. On a 

 cruise of 900 miles in early September, 18iK5, neither seal nor sealiug vessel was 

 sighted in this region. Here the ocean Hoor is comparatively level, and the temper- 

 ature of the water about 37^\ In the southwest ([uadraut the usual temi)erature is 

 about 46-^. The success of the pelagic sealer depends on his knowledge of where to 

 look for seals, and the maps prepared from sealing records furnish nu)stof our infor- 

 mation in this regard. A series of such maps will accompany the tinal report. 



MIGRATIONS. 



Mr. Lucas gives the following summary of our present knowledge of these 

 matters : 



"From data collected by Mr. C. H. Townsend, it appears that in Bering Sea the 

 seals are found between longitude 165^ to ITS'-' in a broad tract stretching north- 

 Avesterly fr(uu the vicinity of Unimak Pass to latitude 63"-. A few are found outside 

 these limits, but the uuiin body of the herd is found in the locality given between 

 June and November, because this is their great feeding ground. During spring and 

 winter the seals occur in a belt skirting the coast of North America for a distance of 

 100 to .500 miles from shore from the vicinity of the Farallones around to Unimak 

 Pass. Scattering seals have been reported at as great distances from laud as latitude 

 40", longitude 14<s^, and from latitude 4S^, longitude 16.5", northeastwardly to the 

 Shumagin Islands. The old bulls in winter frecjucnt the Gulf of Alaska, while the 

 females and young males range farther south. All these seals fouiul at sea are prac- 

 tically feeding seals, the lines of migration being determined by the food supply, 

 and all female seals above 2 years old are breedingseals, eitherrecently impregnated 

 and with young on sliore as well, or with the futiis in a more or less advanced con- 

 dition. It has been suggested that the route of migratory seals is iutluenced by the 

 temperature of the water, but there are no data to adequately substantiate this, while 

 there is every reason to believe that food is the main factor in the case. The homing 

 instinct is also to be considered in this connection." 



