REPORT OF CAPT. HOOPER, DATED SEPTEMBER 6, 1892. 217 



miles, I find the percentage of seals belonging to the different cate- 

 gories taken in the different zones as follows : 



10-mile zone 



Percentage . 

 20-mile zone 



Percentage . 

 30-mile zone. ... 



Percentage. 

 50-mile zone."... 



Percentage. 

 100-mile zone. .. 



Percentage . 

 150-mile zone. .. 



Percentage . 

 200-mile zone. . . 



Percentage . 



Old 

 males. 



1 

 11J 



Young 

 males. 



2 

 22| 



1 



10 



1 



ioa 



i 



50 



1 

 50 



2 

 66f 



3 

 21 



Nursing 



cows." 



1 



50 

 1 



50 

 1 



8 

 57 



Virgin 

 cows. 



3 

 33g 



1 

 10 



Total. 



9 



100 

 - 10 

 100 



1 



100 



100 



ioo 



Barren cows are omitted from the table, none having no i> arren C0W8 

 been found in Bering Sea. found. 



Owing to the shortness of the period during which the investigations 

 have been in progress and to an unfavorable condition of the weather 

 during the latter part of it, strong winds prevailing nearly all of the 

 time, only a limited number of seals were taken in some of the zones. 

 It is interesting to note that more than 50 per cent of 

 all seals taken were nursing cows, and that a large per- j^ 6 ™^'^ 6 of nurs ' 

 centage (57 per cent) of nursing cows were taken in the 

 200-mile zone. The distribution of seals in Bering Sea during the sum- 

 mer appears to be dependent upon the food supply, 

 as furnished by the surface squids, and while seals are 8e ^g Stribution of 

 found at certain localities in greater abundance than 

 at others, I do not believe their presence is constant, but varies from 

 time to time, being controlled by the supply of fish. 



It will be seen from the tabulated statement that in a majority of 

 cases the food found in the seal's stomach is codfish. 

 ' Some of the seals taken by us, in the stomach of which ac J™ d fouml in stom - 

 codfish was found, were in sixteen hundred fathoms of 

 water when taken, a depth, of course, to which a seal could not go. I 

 infer, therefore, that codfish, although a bottom fish, approaches the sur- 

 face at times. 



From my observations in Bering Sea at this time, 

 and in the Pacific Ocean earlier in the season, I am con- 

 vinced that the fur-seal depends chiefly upon fishes taken near the sur- 

 face of the water and squid for food, notwithstanding the fact that 

 shells and small rocks are frequently found in the seal's stomach. These 

 things are frequently found in the stomach of t^he codfish, and it is likely 

 that they are taken into the seal's stomach while eating codfish. The 

 seals seen in Bering Sea at this time of the year, being chiefly nursing 

 cows, are extremely tame, sleep a great deal, and can 

 be readily approached within shooting distance and 

 are easily killed. 



The rapidity with which seals sink after being killed appears to de- 

 pend upon their physical condition — a fat seal floating 

 more than a lean one; the supply of air in the lungs at 

 the time of death, and the position of the seal in the water when killed. 

 As a rule the seals we lost by sinking sank immediately or within a 



Kind of food. 



Nursing cows easily 

 killed. 



