268 



THE FUR SEALS OF TH?: I'KIHILOF ISLANDS. 



The Guadalupe fur se;il formeily iulnibited other islands otf Lower California. It 

 may have beeu the species exterminated on the Faralloues, near San Francisco, by the 

 Russians. It is reported that 5 seals were taken on Ifichardsons Ivock, off S;ui Miguel 

 Island, one of the Santa Barbara group, in 1890. Morrell, in 1825, found no fur seals 

 on this group of islands, but took 400 on San Martin, off Lower California, and 

 reiwrted having seen about 20 fur seals, 300 sea leopards, and 1,550 hair seals at 

 Socorro Island. 



During my own visit to the islands of the Socorro group, in March, 1880, no seals 

 of any species were seen, but the shores were only partially examined. We saw no 

 seals at Alijos Rocks during the same cruise, but Capt. Charles Haritwen saw two sea 

 lions there in May, 1880. We found sea lions [Zulophus eaUfornianus) along both 

 coasts of Lower California, and they inhabit also the Tres INIarias Islands. Although 



Fm. 2.— Luft foro tlipppr of olopliaiit seal, sbDwiug arr.ingiMniMit of I'laws. 



several species of the seal kind have always existed in this region and at the Gala- 

 pagos Islands, there are no records concerning the occurrence of any species of seals 

 off the west coast of Central America. 



We found no pinnipeds at Cocos Island, 300 miles off Costa Rica, during the cruise 

 of the Albatrosm in 1891. 



The lessees of the Commander Islands, Bering Sea, had the seals slaughtered 

 upon Itobben Island, Okhotsk Sea, in the vain li(>i)e of driving the remnant of the 

 herd to the Couinumder Island rookeries. There are no records to show that the 

 slaughter of seals upon the rookeries of (isiudalui)e and San Benita islands ever 

 resulted in driving the animals to other localities. From the liistory of the smaller 

 seal rookeries of the Pacitic Ocean it would seem that the fur seal can not be diiven 

 away to new islands, but stupidly lingers about its ancient haunts until extermination 

 overtakes it. If the remnantof the race lemaining near oron the shores of Guadalupe 

 Island were protected by the laws of Mexico and by a resident guard nx)on the 

 island, its reestablishment would be quite within the range of possibility. 



After returning to Sau Diego, where we arrived on May 30, 1 obtained from a num- 

 ber of men who had formerly engaged in sealing at Guadalupe and the San Benita 

 islands information concerning the habits and capture of this species of fur seal, with 



