44 



XVII. MORTALITY OF ADULT FUR SEALS ON THE ISLANDS. 



The followiug is a record of the adult seals found dead on the islands August 5 to 14 : 



Kookery. 



Cows. 



Kitovi... 

 Lukaiiiii. 



Bulls. Buclielora. 



Tolstoi 



Zapadni 



Littlt^ Zai)a(liii. 

 Zaiiadni Keof . . 



Gorbatch 



Anligiien 



Reef 



Polovina 



Vostochni 



Morjovi 



ST. GEORGE. a 



North 



Little East . 



East 



Zai)a(lni 



Staiava Artil. 



Total . 



28 



a Bulls and bachelors not counted. 



In nio.st cases the deaths in question occurred early, in the height of the breeding 

 sea.son, and the bodies when examined were so far decayed as to render an autopsy 

 im])()s8il)le. 



Tlie death of the bulls on the rookeries was no doubt in nearly all cases due to 

 injuries received in tights with other bnll.>;. The most common of these, cuts ou 

 head, shoulder, or back, are seldom fatal; but occasionally a deeper wound is made, 

 producing hernia or suppuration and sometimes fracture of tlie ribs or pelvi.s. A 

 dislocated shoulder or broken I'oretlipper would cause drowning. One bull was 

 found blinded by buckshot in tlie head. Tlie few bulls found dead off the roolieries 

 are largely those injured by gunshot while on the migrations. Immature males and 

 fenniles are rarely (ound dead on the islands. Of the females found dead in the 

 roolvcries, nearly all are probably victims of the struggles of the bulls. A few have 

 died in iiarturition, but here the cause of death is probably a bite in the small of the 

 back by some bull attempting to form a harem l)y stealing cows. Two cows came 

 in near Sen Lion Neck (Morjovi), North East Point, which had been shot by unknown 

 poachers in July. There is evidence that others were tiius shot. The following is 

 our field record of cows which had been shot in July belore the recognized opening 

 of Bering Sea to the pelagic deet: 



" FoIoriiKt, Jiihj J.7. — At the southwest end of tlie clid's is a wet cow, just in from 

 the sea, with bloody shot holes in her shoulder, the shot apparently having passed 

 througli. She was not killed aud will recover. 



" Moijori, Jiihi ..'4. — A fresh cow al.so doated in to-day on the beach below Sea Lion 

 Neck and was skinned by the gunrd. She had been lately killed by buckshot, there 

 being bloody shot holes in the neck. Evidently pirates are already abroad. The 

 carcass was examined. The cow was lean and in milk, but not much milk evi- 

 dent. Seemed to be an old cow from what I could tell by the ovaries, which were 

 somewhat injured by the rnde dissection of the skinner. I find shot holes through 

 the cesoiihagus, in one side and out the other ; also a shot hole through the glottis and 

 one in the pericardium. The heart was full of clotted blood. The stomach was 

 empty. The llesh is ])erfectly fresh, not more than two or three Aaya dead. The 

 cow died near the shore aud was washed ujion the l)each. She was perhaps shot at 

 some distance away and liecame worn out by long swimming. The skin was salted 

 and taken in evidence of poaching from some quarter. 



" Morjovi, July 25. — Another cow was washed on shore this morning near Sea Lion 

 Neck, 'ihis one had been dead a day or two longer than the preceding. She was 

 very fat and had a large unborn pup. A number of buckshot holes in the back and 

 sides show the cause of death. This skin salted and retained in evidence of iioaching." 



Occasionally cows that have been sjieared come ashore. Some are mortally 

 wounded ; * others recover. One cow was found dead at high-water mark on Lukanin 



* A cow was found dead at Vostochni that had been speared in the belly, then 

 clubbed. Escaping from the sealer, she had been drowned in the surf on landing. 



