68 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 
THE FOOD AND FEEDING GROUNDS. 
The feeding grounds of the fur seals in Bering Sea lie to the south and west of the 
Pribilof Islands, just off the 100-fathom curve, at a distance of from 100 to 200 miles. 
In the migrations the seals seem to follow in a general way this same curve 
The food taken by the seals in Bering Sea consists mainly of squid, pollock, and a 
small smelt-like fish known only through the bones found in the stomachs of the seals. 
Ou the migrations along the coast squid is again the chief diet, though occasional 
salmon, herring, and rockfish are taken. This subject is more fully treated by Mr. 
Lucas in Part ITI. 
THE AGE OF THE SEALS. 
Of the age of the fur seals we know practically nothing, but one striking thing 
about the fur-seal rookeries is the absence of any animals which seem to be aged or 
decrepit. On certain sand beaches and out-of-the-way places animals in poor condi- 
tion were seen, which at first glance seemed to correspond to the class of aged and 
infirm among other animals, but on dissection they were found without exception to 
show injuries which fully accounted for their condition. Some had dislocated joints, 
broken bones, injuries to the spine, buckshot wounds, and like troubles. None were 
suffering from old age. 
Nor is this a thing to be wondered at. The severest strain which the fur seal 
undergoes 1s the winter migration in Bering Sea and the North Pacific. An animal 
weak or-broken down from old age or injuries of one sort or another would succumb 
first to the hardships of the sea and would not return. To the breeding rookeries and 
hauling grounds are returned each spring only those animals which have possessed 
the hardihood and strength to survive the adverse conditions of the winter. These 
may be relied upon, unless overcome by accidents, to maintain themselves during the 
summer, to be again sifted out in the struggle for existence which the ensuing winter 
renews. 
THE FUR-SEAL PUP. 
Of all the different classes of animals the pups are the most conspicuous and 
interestiug. For the first two months of their lives they are always present on the 
rookeries where they are born. Their black coats contrast sharply with the gray 
stones and with the brown fur of their mothers. For a few days after the pup 
is born it is watched over by the mother with a moderate show of interest, which 
manifests itself chiefly in supplying it with nourishment and keeping it out of the 
way of the clumsy bull. But before long the little fellow grows independent and 
leaves the family circle, seeking the lee of a sheltering rock at a distance from the 
harems. There it spends its time sleeping and playing with its companions. 
Whether this “podding” of the pups is a matter of choice or the outgrowth of the 
instinct of self-preservation, the result is good, for it keeps the little fellows out of 
the way of the fighting and trampling bulls. From the time when the pup joins 
the pod it receives no attention from the mother except on her return from the sea, 
when she feeds it. Her absences are at first brief, but as the pup grows older they 
lengthen out. The pup gorges itself with milk while the mother is ou land and goes 
hungry until her return. 
