THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS 



431 



under less strict discipline than the harems of 

 the fur seals. The old bulls, especially during 

 the mating season, are aggressive and savage 

 fighters, inflicting severe wounds on one an- 

 other. At all times they are more courageous 

 and belligerent than fur seals, and hunters 

 driving parties of them back from the beach 

 on the Pribilofs approach them with extreme 

 caution, to avoid the dangerous charges of 

 angry bulls. It is reported that an umbrella 

 opened and closed suddenly in the faces of the 

 old sea-lions appears to terrify them more than 

 any other weapon and is used successfully in 

 drives. At sea they have only a single known 

 enemy to fear — the fierce killer whale. 



SEA OTTER (Latax lutris and its sub- 

 species) 



Sea otters, distant relatives of land otters, are 

 heavy-bodied animals, about 4 feet long, with 

 broad webbed hind feet. When in the water 

 they have a general resemblance to seals, whose 

 mode of life is similar to theirs. Their fur is 

 extremely dense and on the skins of adult 

 males is almost black, closely sprinkled with 

 long white-tipped hairs. The fur of prime 

 skins has a silky luster, equaled in beauty by 

 only the finest silver-tipped fox skins. For 

 centuries sea-otter fur has been highly prized 

 and single skins have brought more than $1,000 

 in the London market. 



Otters are limited to the coasts of the North 

 Pacific, where formerly they were incredibly 

 abundant all the way from the shores and is- 

 lands of Lower California to the Aleutians, 

 and thence along the Asiatic coast to the 

 Kuriles. Through excessive hunting, they are 

 now extinct along most of this extended coast- 

 line. 



In the days of the Russian occupation of 

 Alaska the discovery of the abundance of sea 

 otters led to intense activity in their pursuit. 

 Otter-hunting expeditions were organized by 

 the Russians along the storm-swept coast from 

 Unalaska to Sitka, sailing vessels being used 

 as convoys for hundreds of Aleut hunters in 

 their skin-covered boats. The loss of life 

 among the hunters under their brutal task- 

 masters was appalling and resulted in seriously 

 and permanently reducing the native population 

 of the Aleutian Islands. At the same time 

 enormous numbers of sea-otter skins were 

 taken. Afterward both English and American 

 ships engaged in the pursuit of otters farther 

 down the coast. 



The first year after the discovery of the 

 Pribilof Islands the records show that 5,000 

 sea otters were taken there. Many expeditions 

 in other directions secured from one to several 

 thousand skins. When sea otters were most 

 abundant they were found all down the coast, 

 even in San Francisco Bay, and one American 

 trading vessel obtained 7,000 skins in a few 

 weeks from the natives of the northern coast 

 of Lower California. 



The otters formerly frequented the shores 

 of rocky islands and outlying reefs, but con- 

 stant persecution has driven the few survivors 



to remain almost constantly at sea, where they 

 seek resting places among kelp beds. They are 

 now excessively shy and, aided by keen eyes 

 and an acute sense of smell, are difficult to 

 approach. When anything excites their curi- 

 osity they commonly raise the body upright, 

 the head high above water, and gaze steadily 

 at the object. If alarmed, they dive and re- 

 appear at a long distance. 



Otter hunters report the animals very play- 

 ful in pleasant weather, and sometimes floating 

 on their backs and playing with pieces of kelp. 

 The mother is devoted to her young and is 

 said to play with it in the water for hours at 

 a time. 



All efforts to rear the young in captivity 

 have failed. The food of the sea otter is 

 mainly of shellfish of various kinds, secured by 

 them from the bottom of the sea. 



Practically the only sea otters left among the 

 hordes which once frequented the American 

 shores of the North Pacific are now scattered 

 along the Aleutian Islands. Government regu- 

 lations prohibit their being hunted and it is 

 hoped that enough still remain to restock the 

 wild and stormy sea where they have their 

 home. 



NORTHERN SEA-ELEPHANT, OR 



ELEPHANT SEAL (Mirounga 



augustirostris) 



Sea-elephants are the largest and among the 

 most remarkable of the seals. Two species 

 are known — one from islands on the borders 

 of the Antarctic Ocean and the other from the 

 Pacific coast of Upper and Lower California. 

 The northern species formerly existed in vast 

 numbers along the coast and among outlying 

 islands from Point Reyes, north of San Fran- 

 cisco, south to Cedros Island, but is now re- 

 duced to a single small herd living about 

 Guadalupe Island, off Lower California. 



The old males attain a length of 22 feet or 

 more and are huge, ungainly beasts, moving 

 with difficulty on land, but with ease and grace 

 in the water. The name sea-elephant is ob- 

 viously derived from the broad flexible snout 

 of the males, which, when relaxed, hangs 6 or 

 8 inches below the muzzle. This curious pro- 

 boscis can be moved about and raised verti- 

 cally, giving the animal a strange appearance. 

 The males have a loud roar like the bellowing 

 of an ox. 



The breeding season extends from February 

 to June, and during this period these seals are 

 far more numerous on shore than at any other 

 time. They are gregarious in hab'ts and for- 

 merly hauled up in herds on the islands or on 

 remote and inaccessible beaches of the main- 

 land. On shore they are sluggish, having none 

 of the alertness shown by many other seals. 

 They lie supine on the sand and permit a man 

 to walk quietly up and touch them without 

 showing signs of fear. When attacked by 

 sealers or otherwise alarmed, however, they 

 become panic-stricken and make ungainly ef- 

 forts to escape, but quickly become exhausted 

 by the exertion necessary to move their great 



