CHAPTER XXVII 



SEAL 



The seals are divided into several different groups. They are 

 known as fur seals and hair seals. The fur seals have a short thick 

 underfur which is dyed and makes the seal skin of commerce. The 

 hair seals do not have this soft underfur, the hair being coarse, 

 wiry, and loose. These skins are usually taken for the hides only, 

 and when they are tanned make wonderfully fine leather. Some of 

 the better kinds are dressed with the fur left on and are used for 

 robes, and other purposes. The largest herd of fur seals at certain 

 seasons of the year inhabit the Pribilof Islands off the coast of 

 Alaska. In addition to the Alaska Seals, there are the Commander 

 Island, the Shetland Islands, the Lobos Island, the Faulkland 

 Islands, and the Cape of Good Hope seals, and a small herd which 

 occupies the Sakhalin Islands North of Japan. The hair seals are 

 largely found off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. They are also found off the coast of Western 

 Greenland and in the Caspian Sea. 



The seal is a very gentle and submissive animal and very seldom 

 offers any resistance when attacked by man. They have a strongly 

 developed social instinct and have an extraordinary affection for 

 their yoimg. Strange as it may seem the young pup seals have to 

 be taught the art of swimming by the mother. 



The Northern fur seal that inhabits the Behring Sea breeds on 

 the Pribilof Islands. These islands are the breeding grounds for the 

 largest herd of seals in the world. The Commander Islands, which 

 belong to Russia, and the Kurile Islands which belong to Japan, are 

 also the home of the northern seal. This particular species of fur seal, 

 it is said, does not breed in any other part of the world. The fur 

 seals of the Islands of the South Seas belong to a different species. 

 The fur seal is polygamous and the male is about five times as large 

 as the female. As a rule one bull seal takes care of a family of from 

 fifteen to twenty females, and in some cases up to fifty or more. The 

 seals inhabit the Pribilof Islands eight or nine months of the year. 

 The balance of the time they spend in the water and at times will appear 

 as far South as Northern California. When they return, the old bulls 

 reach the Islands much earlier than the rest of the herd and take 



