406 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



AUGUST 12. 



Mr. Lucas and Mr. Townsend returned on the Bush. Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clark, 

 with Judge Crowley and a boat's crew, visited Sivutch Eock in the morning, making 

 a count of the dead pups on Tolstoi and Lagoon rookeries in the afternoon. 



CONDITION OP SEALS AT SEA. 



The following is an abstract of Mr. Lucas's report of the results of his cruise on 

 the Rush among the pelagic sealers : 



"On the evening of August 9 the bodies of 7 seals were obtained from the 

 Canadian schooner Agnes McDonald, and 12 bodies were obtained from the American 

 schooner Deeahhs. On the 10th of August 13 bodies were obtained from the Canadian 

 schooner JS. B. Marvin, and on August 11, 16 from the Canadian schooner Aurora. 

 One 5-year-old male was thrown overboard from the E. B. Marvin. 



"Two of the 48 bodies obtained were young males; the remaining 46 were females 

 from 2 years old upward, some being very old. The 46 females were carefully 

 examined by Mr. Townsend and myself, with the following results: 



" Forty-three were breeding females with nursing young, and 3 were 2-year-olds 

 just arrived at the age of first impregnation. Forty-two of the females, including 

 the 3 2-year-olds, had been recently impregnated, while the condition of the remaining 

 4 was somewhat uncertain, and the ovaries were reserved for further examination. ^ 



" In regard to food, it may be said that only 14 contained any trace of it, and in 

 the majority of cases this consisted of squid. Next in order of importance is pollock, 

 while a single individual contained bones of a cottoid. 



" The results obtained from the examination of the 48 bodies are so strictly in 

 accord with the observations made by Mr. Townsend in 1895 that it would seem 

 unnecessary to pursue this branch of the investigation further, unless it should be 

 deemed best to continue it at a later date. 



" It is apparent that the large majority of seals taken by pelagic sealers in 

 August are females with nursing young, and that an equally large majority are 

 females which have been impregnated and would, if spared, bear young during the 

 coming year. The females noted as not impregnated may, on closer examination, 

 prove to have been, and not a single instance of a 'barren female' has come to light." 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Mr. Lucas reports that the "intestinal worms" in the stomach of the hair seal 

 taken at North Beach, a few days ago, on closer examination prove to be the soft 

 axes of the tentacles of the octopus. 



As touching the age of seals, Mr. Lucas finds that in year-ling and 2-year-old 

 females the whiskers are black, while in the younger breeders they begin to turn 

 gray; in the older ones they are quite white. He also reports that very black-bellied 

 pups are not males, but are younger pups which have not begun to shed their hair; 

 the brown-bellied ones are older. On examination of the teeth, etc., the barren 

 female found with the bachelors on the Eeef hauling ground seems to have been 

 about 5 years old. 



I Closer examination showed the majority of these doubtful cases also to he impregnated. 



