356 TESTIMONY 



The destructiveness to seal life by pelagic hunting is very great. 

 _ ,,.. The maiority of seals killed are pregnant females, so 



Waste of lite. j_i j_ . t cj. -ix -\ • • i • 



that two lives are often sacrificed m securing one skm. 

 This is true whether firearms or spoars are used. In addition to this, 

 the number of skins marketed does not represent the number actually 

 destroyed, for many are killed that are not secured, while others, though 

 fatally w^ounded, still possess strength enough to escape their pur- 

 suers. 



In studying aquatic seal life on the Northwest Coast, there has come 



under my observation another source of waste. That is, the destruc- 



,. ' , „ tion of bulls that are fit for service upon the breeding 



Destrnctionof bulls. ^^,^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ g^^j islauds. While the injury to the 



herd from killing these males is, in general, not so great as that which 

 arises from the killing of cows, nevertheless, the destroying of an ani- 

 mal which lias required six or seven years of life to prepare it to assist 

 in the i^erpetuation of the species is a serious menace to the life of the 

 herd. 



From my general knowledge of natural history, from my study of 

 the habits of seals, as well as from the opportunities I have had to ac- 

 quaint myself with the sources of destruction wiiich are at work, I 

 firmly believe that pelagic sealing would not only ac- 

 Protection. couut for the diminution of the seal herd, but if contin- 



tinued the seals will inevitably be commercially destroyed. 



A. B. Alexander. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2Gth day of May, 1892. 



[SEAL.] H. L. BURKETT, 



]!ifotary FuMic, Residing at Fort Townsend. 



Beposition of Wilton C. Bennett, sealer {hunter). 



PELAGIC SEALING-. 



Wilton C. Bennett, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born 

 at Neah Bay. I am 32 years old and have been a seal- 

 Experience, hunter all my life in the North Pacific Ocean, and one 

 season in Bearing Sea, always in the capacity of hunter. 

 I have first seen and taken seal off Cape Flattery in March; have fol- 

 lowed the seal up as far as Bartlett Sound, which they 

 Misration. leavc about June 1; have used a spear for taking seal 

 all my life, but when seal are wild sometimes I used a shotgun. No seal 

 werelost when struck with spear. About 40 per cent of seal shot with 

 shotgun are lost and more when the rifle is used. Most 



Mostly cows taken, ^jj ^j^^ ^^^j^ ^^j,^,j^ ^^ j^^ j^^^.^ ^^^.^ ^^^^^ j ^j^j^^l^ 



cows sleep more and are more easily approached. Never killed but 



seven old bulls on the coast of Washington in my life, but have taken 



a few pups every year. The sex of the seal can not be 



^Indiscriminate kill- ^^j^j jjj ^^^ watcr; I shoot everything that comes near 



"^■' the boat. Seal when shot dead sink very quick, and 



are hard to secure under those conditions. Seal are not as plentiful 



on the coast as they used to be. They have been de- 



ecrease. creasing very fast the last few years. I think this is 



Pups not born in causcd by the indiscriminate killing in the water. I 



"Wtiter or on coast ex- *^ ^ c* 



cept on Pribiiof' Is- have ucvcr kuowu any seal pups to be born in the 

 ^'"•^^- water or on the coast anywhere, except on the Pribi- 



