MAKING THE FUR SEAL ABUNDANT 
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OUTLINE MAP OF BERING SEA, SHOWING LOCATION OF PRIBILOF ISLANDS 
quate protection for the seals when away 
from the Pribilofs, and that its efforts 
were frustrated chiefly by the results of 
an unfortunate international arbitration. 
COMPOSITION OF THE HERD. 
Whether the seal herd is large or small, 
it has a definite organization and compo- 
sition dependent on the peculiar habits 
of the species ; and not the least interest- 
ing thing about the herd is the peculiar 
set of names applied to its elements in 
both popular and scientific discourse. In 
the first place, the most accurate designa- 
tion of the fur seals is sea bears, as these 
creatures have strong anatomical rela- 
tions with the bears and differ markedly 
from the hair or true seals. This fact 
was recognized by Steller in 1741 when 
he gave an account of the “sea bear” 
found on Bering Island, a designation 
later perpetuated by Linnzus when he 
bestowed the technical name of ursina 
on the Russian fur seal. 
But although the fur seals as a group 
may be sea bears, individually they have 
names which completely ignore their 
ursine affinities. The adult males are 
called bulls and the adult females cows. 
The newly born, however, are neither 
calves nor cubs, but pups, and the young 
males are officially known as bachelors. 
The particular places on the shores of 
the islands where the seals resort are al- 
ways called rookeries; and the family 
unit is the harem, composed of_a single 
bull and any number of cows up to 50, 
or even more. 
EXTRAORDINARY VITALITY OF SEALS 
Although the seals are easily killed by 
the methods adopted by man for their 
destruction on sea and land, they are 
capable of withstanding great privation 
and of undergoing extraordinary muscu- 
lar exertion. 
To maintain themselves during winter 
in the tempestuous north Pacific without 
