61 



There are a great many varieties, and species of eared seals ; they are mainly 

 taken for their hides. No one appears to know the extent to which they are taken 

 by U.S. citizens or within U.S. waters, or even imported. As far as is known, the 

 only one of these species that is protected in any way by Federal law is the 

 Hawaiian Monk Seal, which is protectable as a resident of the Hawaiian Islands 

 National Wildlife Refuge. There is virtually no research funding in this area 

 by the Federal government. 



THE WALRUS (FAMILY ODOBENIDAE) 



Together with many other marine mammals, the walrus suffered heavily from 

 man's predation towards the end of the 19th century. There are indications that 

 whalers turned to the walrus as the available whales decreased. 



The principal use to which the walrus has been put recently has been as a source 

 of food and of ivory. Alaskan natives still eat and feed walrus meat to their dogs, 

 but the demand for this meat is dwindling as the arctic dog teams are displaced 

 by snowmobiles. State law regulates to some extent the taking of walrus by 

 natives and trophy hunters. 



Little is known of a factual nature as to the size of the herd. There may be as 

 many as 100,000 in the Bering Sea, and there may be only half that, or less. There 

 are indications that Russia is looking into the possibility of taking walruses in 

 the Bering Sea (BSFW, "Wildlife Research — Problems, Programs, Progress, 

 1969, p. 76). 



There is no international agreement in existence between this country and the 

 U.S.S.R. governing the taking of walruses. A strong case can be made that this 

 should be done, and soon, before resource utilization pressures build up. There 

 does not appear to be any Federal Law on the taking of walruses, since the Alaska 

 Statehood Act overrode an earlier Federal statute prohibiting the taking of walrus 

 (55 Stat. 632). 



THE SEA OTTER 



The sea otter, as a species, was hunted almost to extinction by the end of the 

 19th century by a horde of unregulated fur hunters. In 1911 what remained of 

 the population was given protection by Federal legislation, at least to the extent 

 that it involved persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The Fur Seal Act of 1966 con- 

 tinued this regulation, as it affected animals beyond the three-mile limit ; this 

 regulation is not particularly significant since .sea otters are rarely found in waters 

 over 180 feet deep, which pretty well restricts them to territorial waters, except 

 in the Aleutians, whicli are surrounded by relatively shallow water. 



The sea otter is found primarily in Alaskan and Californian waters — the Cali- 

 fornian population is classified as "rare"' in Interior's "Redbook.'' The popula- 

 tion size of the sea otters is not known ; perhaps the most knowledgeable Ameri- 

 can scientist in the area is Karl Kenyon, who estimated in a 1969 publication 

 (Interior Publication No. 68, "The Sea Otter in the Eastern Pacific Ocean," cited 

 as ''Kenyon") that "(a) general estimate of the world population, presum- 

 ing that some populated areas have not been ob.served. is about 32,000 to 35,000 

 animals." (p. 200). The hunting and con.servation group '"fact sheet" indicates, 

 without evidence, that the population has grown to "about 40 to 50 thousand 

 animals." 



This "fact sheet" also indicates a high rate of population growth for sea 

 otter.s, and that they are "rapidly spreading into new areas." It concludes that 

 "where populations are crowded the sea otter resource could easily be cropi)ed . . ." 

 There is now in existence an experimental program in Alaska, involving the 

 killing of some 300 sea otters iter year. 



Pressure upon the sea otter is almost certain to increase. Kenyon describes 

 a sale of skins in Seattle in 1968, at which the average price per recently 

 taken skin was $280 each, and where some skins sold for $2300 apiece, (pp. 

 41, 42). Contrast this with an awrage sale price of fur seal of .some $82 per 

 skin and the nature of the demand becomes apparent. Kenyon also notes that 

 the environmental deterioration of the sea otters' habitat unll preclude their 

 reoccupying areas in which they used to thrive, and indicates that acute pollu- 

 tion will affect their food supply (p. 281). For the sea otter this is a highly 

 significant limiting factor, since they consume food in the amount of 25-30% 

 of their body weight per day ( Kenyon, p. 126) . 



The sea otter also suffers from man's activities in other ways: California 

 fishermen claim that the sea otters are comi>eting with them for abalone, and 

 are known to kill them, in spite of their protected status under California law. 



