WEDDELL’S SEAL. 13 
beach outside the Heads and was deposited in a museum at Wanganui. The first 
Specimens placed in the British Museum were procured from the river Santa Cruz 
on the East coast of Patagonia. Sir James Ross procured but one specimen from the 
Antarctic. Kerguelen and Heard Islands seem to be more frequently visited by 
wandering examples of Leptonychotes than the more Northern lands as one would expect, 
and Mr. Moseley reported a herd of four hundred of these seals on an outlying island of 
Kerguelen, and many bones of the “Sea Leopard” on Heard Island. Whether these 
were really Leptonychotes or Stenorhinchus is still doubtful, and judging only from 
probabilities one would be inclined to think that they were at any rate not Weddell’s 
Seals. It is certain, however, that one true example of Leptonychotes was taken at 
Kerguelen. 
By the “ Belgica” Expedition Weddell’s Seal was seen abundantly in the 
Palmer Archipelago, and by the “ Southern Cross,” and the “ Antarctic” (Bull’s cruise) 
all along the coast of South Victoria Land. Dr. Donald and Mr. Bruce in the Dundee 
Whalers’ cruise saw a few of this species in Graham’s Land, and more recently they 
have been reported as “very numerous” in the South Orkneys, where “ over a hundred 
could often be counted lying on the small raised beach on the west side of Scotia Bay.” 
In the Weddell Sea it is reported by Dr. Pirie and Mr. Brown to have been seen off 
Coats’ Land, 74° 8. and 22° W., in March, and again by Dr. Nordenskjold to have been 
the commonest of all seals in Louis Philippe Land, where, however, he adds, “ it 
could not be depended on during the winter months ;” and finally it was met with 
by the German Expedition off Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land; while in Adélie Land, it is 
noted in Wilkes’ and Dumont D’Urville’s narratives under various names, and the ‘‘ Sea 
Elephant ” so constantly mentioned by Wilkes, refers in all probability very often to 
Weddell’s Seal. 
The normal range of distribution of Leptonychotes is therefore more or less 
coincident with the coast line of Antarctic lands and not with the distribution of the 
Antarctic pack ice. Occasional examples may be carried by drifting bergs to the 
northern limit of ice in the winter months, but as Weddell’s Seal is not in any 
complete sense a migrant, it will not be less rare in these latitudes in the winter 
than in the summer. The Southern limit of its range is the same for summer 
and winter, and coincides with the limits of Barrier ice and the coast-line of the 
so-called Antarctic Continent. 
Weddell’s Seal does not migrate. It is to be found at the southernmost limit 
of its range throughout the winter months, but is not so much in evidence at that 
season as it is in the summer months. Its southernmost limit throughout the year is 
decided by the possibility of obtaining food, and not at all by temperature or climate, 
neither of which seems to affect either it or its supply of food to any considerable 
extent. The food of Weddell’s Seal consists almost entirely of fish, though the 
beaks of cuttle-fish are often found in the stomach, showing that its diet is not 
exclusive. Crustaceans also form a small part of its food supply, and, as in most other 
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