FOOD OF SEA-LIONS 



45 



and crabs. For reasons known only to them- 

 selves, they swallow many round pebbles, from 

 one to two inches in diameter. We once took 

 16 pounds (half a pailful) from the stomach of a 

 medium-sized specimen. 



In captivity all kinds of seals and Sea-Lions 

 live contentedly in fresh water. The value of 

 a living Cahfornia Sea-Lion in New York City 

 is about $150. This species possesses great 

 intelligence, and quite recently several specimens 

 have been trained to go through a show per- 

 formance which is really wonderful, including a 

 most remarkable act in which a Sea-Lion suc- 

 cessfully balances a large ball on the point of its 

 nose. 



An important incident in the life history of 

 the California Sea-Lion furnishes a good illustra- 

 tion of the folly of condemning a wild species to 

 destruction on insufficient evidence. 



For several years the fishermen of San Fran- 

 cisco complained that the Sea-Lions of the Cali- 

 fornia coast devoured such enormous quantities 

 of salmon and other fish that they were seriously 

 affecting the available supply ; besides which, they 

 caused great damage to nets and impounded fish. 

 They demanded that the Sea-Lions be destroyed, 

 and finally convinced the state authorities that 

 their contentions were well founded. 



It was decided that the animals should be de- 

 stroyed, by systematic shooting, down to a com- 

 paratively small number; and the slaughter 

 was duly ordered. Men were engaged to do the 

 work, in a business-like way, and an official re- 

 quest for permission to kill on the light-house 

 reservations of the government was granted. 



But there were certain naturalists who doubted 

 the entire accuracy of the charges made against 

 the Sea-Lions, and asked for proof in detail. 

 When no evidence of a specific and convincing 

 nature was brought forward, they requested 

 that the slaughter proposed on the Farallone 

 Islands, and other Ught-house reservations, be 

 deferred, pending a careful inquiry; and this was 

 done. 



However, where the state authorities had full 

 power to act, the killing proceeded in a few lo- 

 calities. It happened that during the kiUing of 

 California Sea-Lions' on the shore of Monterey 

 Bay, and vicinity. Professor L. L. Dyche, of the 

 University of Kansas, arrived on the scene to 

 pursue studies in marine life. He examined the 



stomachs of twenty Sea-Lions which were washed 

 ashore, and of five more which he killed for the 

 purpose of mounting their skins. 



Every stomach examined contained the rem.ains 

 of squids and devil-fish (Octopus), one or both; 

 and both of which are among the fisherman's ene- 

 mies! Not one of the twenty-five stomachs which 

 he carefully examined and reported upon contained 

 any portion of a scaled fish. 



In 1901, the United States Fish Commission 

 conducted a systematic investigation of the 

 food habits of the Sea-Lions of the Pacific coast 

 and the report of Messrs. Rutter, Snodgrass 

 and Starks appears in the Report of the Fish 

 Commissioner for 1902. At six points on the 

 coast of California, the investigators killed a 

 total of twenty-four specimens of the California 

 Sea-Lion, and eighteen of the Stellar Sea-Lions. 

 The report says : 



" Of thirteen California Sea-Lions whose stom- 

 achs contained food, five had eaten fish and 

 eleven had eaten squid. The quantity of fish 

 was inconsiderable, seventeen small fishes being 

 the maximum, while the remains of one hundred 

 to three hundred squid were found in each of 

 five stomachs. 



"All the thirteen Steller Sea-Lions whose 

 stomachs contained food had eaten fish, and five 

 had eaten squid, or octopus. The number of 

 squid eaten was small, six being the maximum 

 number in one Sea-Lion, while the quantity of 

 fish was large, at least thirty-five pounds being 

 taken from one stomach." 



The detailed report of the kinds of fishes con- 

 sumed as food by these animals reveals an as- 

 • sortment of very little value, and not one salmon 

 or shad. Professor Dyche's discovery — that 

 the Cahfornia Sea-Lion feeds almost exclusively 

 upon squid — was fully confirmed, for the twenty- 

 four animals killed contained only three rock- 

 fish, two hake, twenty-four "small fish" and one 

 chimera, — but over eleven hundred squid! The 

 stomachs of the Steller's Sea-Lions contained 

 fourteen rock-fish, two perch, thirty clupeoid 

 fish, seventeen "large fishes of 12 to 18 inches," 

 and a few skates, sharks and squids. 



"The testimony of the fishermen was so con- 

 tradictory it is of no value. . . . One man 

 claims that the Sea-Lions are becoming more 

 numerous and destructive every year, while 

 another claims that they are rapidly becoming 



