44 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 
as many of the pelagic islands of the Antarctic regions.* Perhaps the most northern 
extent of this genus is the herd which formerly existed in considerable numbers on 
Guadalupe Island, and other islands in its vicinity, where a remnant probably still 
breed hidden in the caves and recesses of their shores. 
THE FUR SEALS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC, 
The fur seals of the North Pacific belong to the second group, the genus Callo- 
rhinus. It is resident upon certain barren and rocky islands in Bering Sea and the 
Sea of Okhotsk, unknown to aboriginal man, and, so far aS we are aware, never 
visited by man before the discovery of the Komandorski Islands by Vitus Bering in 
1741 and the Pribilof Islands by Gerassim Pribilof in 1786. In addition to the 
Komandorski and Pribilof islands, seals of the genus Callorhinus also occupy certain 
islands of the Kuril group, and also the rocky islet known as Robben Reef, off the 
coast of Saghalin. 
STELLER’S ACCOUNT. 
Our first knowledge of the fur seals of the North comes from the account of Georg 
Wilhelm Steller (1709-1745), a German naturalist, who accompanied Bering on the 
voyage which resulted in the discovery of the Komandorski Islands. During the 
winter which the survivors of the ill-fated St, Peter spent on Bering Island, Steller 
visited the south, or Poludinnoye rookery of this island and wrote an accountt of the 
fur seals or ‘‘sea bears” as he called them. 
On Steller’s description of the “sea bear” (Ursus marinus) of Bering Island, 
Linneus based his description of Phoca ursina, or the bear-like seal. From the 
Linnean name the fur seal of the North Pacific came to be called Callorhinus ursinus, 
the type of the species being the Komandorski herd. 
THE THREE HERDS. 
The fur seals of the North Pacitic comprise three distinct herds, which do not 
intermingle in any way, having distinct breeding grounds, feeding grounds, and 
routes of migration. 
THE PRIBILOF HERD. 
The most important of the three herds is that which resorts to the Pribilof Islands. 
These breed upon the islands of St. Paul and St. George during the summer, and in 
winter pass down through the channels of the Aleutian Islands into the Pacific Ocean, 
in their migrations reaching as far south as the coast of southern California and 
returning along the west coast of North America. 
THE KOMANDORSKI HERD. 
The next herd in importance is that resorting to the Komandorski Islands. These 
breed upon the islands of Bering and Medni, passing in winter down along the eastern 
coast of Japan and returning by the same route. 
*A full account of the southern fur seals will be found in Part III of this report. 
tA translation of Steller’s account will be found in Part III of this report. 
