VARIETIES OF THE SEAL FAMILY 137 



THE SEAL FAMILY 

 Phocidae 



The Little Ringed Seal^ is the Seal of the Farthest 

 North, and the friend of the northern Eskimo all round the 

 pole. It is the smallest North American species, and looks 

 very much like the common harbor seal. It goes as far 

 north as it can find breathing-holes. Nansen found it on 

 May 31, at 82° 2l', or within 460 miles of the pole, living 

 in the narrow lanes of water that were then forming in the 

 great polar ice-pack. It was a Bearded Seal,^ however, 

 which, on June 22, afforded the brave explorers a good supply 

 of food when men and dogs were almost starved. And, true 

 to its nature, an old polar bear, with two small cubs, was 

 closely following up the seals as they worked north through 

 the ice-pack. 



The Common Harbor Seal,' of both our ocean coasts, is 

 a good representative of the Seal Family, chiefly because it 

 is the species most frequently seen. It ascends rivers far 

 above tidal influence, and has been taken in Lake Champlain. 

 In the Columbia River a closely related species has been 

 taken above The Dalles, 200 miles from the sea. 



The Harp Seal^ is not only one of the handsomest of 

 all seals, but it is also the species most valuable to man. 

 It is found on both sides of North America, but always in 

 cold waters. In the year 1900 five sealing steamers of New- 

 foundland took nearly 100,000 seals, mostly Harps, on the 



' Pho'ca foe'ti-da. ' Pho'ca vit-u-li'na. 



2 Er-i-gnath'ua har-ba'tus. * Pho'ca gro-en-land'ic-a. 



