SEAL LIFE ON THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 14B 



had noticed a marked difference in that respect, and attributed it to the 

 hunting- that had been carried on. In many cases they appeared to be 

 unusually shy when there was no ap{)areiit cause for it. 



FOOD OF SEALS. 



The material which has been found in the stomachs of seals taken in 

 different i^arts of Bering Sea indicates that only a small ]>ercentage is 

 composed of fish which inhabit deep water. It is only reasonable to 

 suppose, however, that when seals are in shallow water they feed both 

 on bottom fish and on those swimming near the surface. A not nncom- 

 mou component of their food is the red rockfish, which occurs both in 

 deep and shallow water and [)ossib]y also near the surface at times, 

 which would account for its being found in the stomachs of seals caj)- 

 tured where the water is 100 fathoms or more deep. 



On August 2L>, 1895, in latitude oo^ 04' north, longitude 108° 35' west, 

 the head of a macrurus was found in the stomach of a male seal. This 

 group of fishes inhabits considerable depths and much speculation 

 arose as to how it had been obtained by the seal, it was subsequently 

 learned, however, that the Alhatross had been dredging in deep water 

 near our position from the 18th to the 22d, and dnring that time there 

 had been thrown overboard many rejected specimens, among which 

 were a number of macruri, which would be apt to tloat for some time at 

 or near the surface if not molested. 



It has been claimed that seals will not eat dead fish, but this is a 

 mistake, for the writer has seen them devour salmon that had been 

 dead several days. 



Surface fishes, and especially s(piid, seem to be the natural food of 

 the seal. In the stomachs that have been examined a variety of mate- 

 rial was found, such as ]tieces of Alaskan pollock, salmon, and other 

 fishes, but it has also been observed that in localities where squid are 

 plentiful very little other food may be looked for. I am informed by 

 hunters that on the coast of Japan and off the Commander Islands squid 

 occur in great abundance, and that it is not an uncommon sight to see a 

 half dozen or more seals together feeding on the tentacles of octopus 

 floating at the surface. Sealers usually find squid plentiful oft" the 

 island of Kadiak, and in that locality they have often been found in 

 large quantities in the stomachs of the seals. 



WHITE HUNTERS AT A DISADVANTAGE. 



The white hunters on the Dora Sicircrd did not have the same oppor- 

 tunity of getting seals as the Indians for several reasons, one of which 

 was that, as a rule, they were the last to leave the vessel in the morn- 

 ing and the first to return at night. They were exi)ected to hoist out 

 all the canoes, and in the evening to hoist them in again, stow them 

 away and lash them. Indians are useless in this kind of work, and 

 upon their arrival alongside, their duties have ended, as the skinning of 

 the seals devolves upon the steersmen. 



The Indians, therefore, had every advantage in respect to hunting. 

 On leaving a vessel the boats nearly always form a line so that each will 

 have a clear space to windward. When all the boats start out together 

 they are all on an equal footing; but when one or two boats, as was the 

 case with our white hunters, are obliged to follow in the rear of others, 

 their chance of seeing many seals is greatly lessened, for tliey are hunt- 

 ing in water already passed over, but the situation improves as the 



