56 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY, 1896. 

 By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



Man is not the on\y enemy the breeding Seals have to contend 

 with, and I fear that in the past season the smaller number taken 

 by the sealers off Newfoundland is no indication of the total mor- 

 tality amongst the " whitecoats," rough weather and the consequent 

 disruption of the ice on which they were brought forth, added to 

 the " rafting" caused by pressure, having probably been account- 

 able for the loss of many more young Seals than were saved from 

 the sealers by the impassable nature of the ice. A severe gale from 

 the N.E. about the 5th and 6th of March, before the fishery com- 

 menced, broke up a vast extent of the whelping ice, and doubtless 

 killed or drowned a large number of young Seals ; the occurrence 

 in some localities, at the same time, of both fairly matured 

 young ones and others newly born, indicated that some such 

 disturbance had taken place. This same gale also drove the ice 

 into Green Bay, and the presence upon it of a few Seals led to 

 the impression that the main body were in that neighbourhood; 

 this, however, did not prove to be the case, and only had the 

 effect of misleading the vessels in their search. About March 

 10th, the day on which the fleet sailed, the wind changed to the 

 westward, and very few Seals fell to the Green Bay people. 



No steamer struck any large body of Seals, and great difficulty 

 was experienced in approaching those they did secure, owing to 

 the unusually heavy nature of the ice. There were level sheets 

 between very heavy ice, and it was on these that the young Seals 

 were deposited ; the "patches" might be from fifteen to thirty miles 

 apart, and unless the steamer struck and was able to reach one of 

 these sheets of whelping ice, her success was very small indeed. 

 The 'Newfoundland' got an early start (some say unfairly) and 

 was fortunate in working to the back of the ice, getting a good 

 catch of old and young Hooded Seals and a few young Harps ; 

 she struck the patch on March 13th off Cape St. John, and drifted 

 south with them. The body of the young Harps were nearer the 



