343 



the impression that man could simply leave the fur seals alone and nature would 

 see to it that they lived happily ever after. It is not true. Nature would see to 

 it that the surplus was killed off. And when nature sets about redressing a 

 population imbalance there is no place for mercy in the natural process. Nature 

 has no compunction over killing pups slowly with parasites or starvation or any 

 other way. People need to recognize this inescapable biological fact in consider- 

 ing what the consequences would be if man were to abandon his management 

 responsibilities. 



This reasoning is very dubious. The same publication states that 

 the Pribilof Islands herd is now estimated at some 1.5 million animals. 

 This number is nowhere near former totals, and clearly disputes the 

 contention that increased numbers would be detrimental to the animals. 

 According to Mr. Seton H. Thompson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servdce, 

 Avriting in the 1969 edition of Encyclopedia Americana on the subject 

 of "Seals and Sealing" (vol. 24, pp. 480-483), at the time of the seal 

 herd's discovery in 1786, there Avere at least 5 million seals. In 1948, 

 there were 3,837,131 animals in the herd. Thus, under the supposedly 

 enlightened conservation concerns of the Department of the Interior, 

 the herd has decreased in the last 22 years by approximately 2 million — 

 even allowing for inclusion in the earlier totals of the Japanese and 

 Russian herds — without any specified diminution in territory available 

 to the animals. 



Unfortunately, so long as other nations do not enter into an inter- 

 national accord banning lx)th pelagic sealing and killing of seals, or 

 at least allowing cessation of the killing of those seals currently al- 

 locable to the United States, under the existing convention, it would 

 seem that the harvest must continue. But, let us be clear. This harvest 

 stems from the world's demand for fur seals, and the even more disas- 

 terous consequences which would occur were pelagic sealing resumed. 

 Its merit does not lie in maintenance of the vitality of the Pribilof 

 seals, as the Department of Interior indicates. 



The annual harvest commences with the bachelor seals being driven 

 from the shore to the fields beyond. The distance varies from a few 

 hundred yards to over half a mile to sites where the killing takes place. 

 The actual killing is performed by man armed with hardwood clubs 

 155 centimeters long. They are assisted by one or two men who divide 

 off small pods, or groups, of seals, about 10 in number, from the main 

 herd, driving them toward the killers who then club them on the top of 

 the head. Men known as stickers go around the clubbed animals and 

 cut their skins in the midventral thoracic region, followed by pushing 

 the knife into the thorax. The heart is then punctured by the knife. 

 After sticking, other groups of men come to skin the seal. 



According to the report prepared by Dr. Elizabeth Simpson for the 

 World Federation for the Protection of Animals and published in 1967, 

 about 13.6 percent of the animals showed evidence of the animal having 

 received two or more blows with the club, which is supposed to kill 

 them instantaneously with one blow. Dr. Simpson also noted that the 

 length of the drives of the seals to the slaughter grounds is in some 

 locations too long, resulting in "unnecessary distress on the part of 

 some of the seals." 



Clearlv, then, the so-called merciless seal harvest is not quite as bene- 

 ficial as it has at times been portrayed. I do want to be frank, however, 

 and acknowledge that Dr. Simpson did conclude that the present club- 

 bing technique is probably the best, in comparison with the use of the 



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