492 INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



to show the way in which a foundation has been laid for the future 

 measurement and investigation of the fur-seal herd. This atlas, 

 together with the photographs it contains and which are a part of my 

 1912 report, a second^ one being provided in connection with my 1913 

 report, locates each breeding family with reference to the marked 

 rocks of the 1897 Coast and Geodetic Survey. It can be continued 

 by future observers, tracing the growth of the herd. This work can 

 all be done easily now because the herd is very small, but it will 

 immediately begin to expand and preparation must be made for the 

 future. In order that these methods of estimating the future of the 

 herd may be feasible, observation lanes and towers and photographic 

 stations must be established on the rookeries, places to which the 

 observer can get without endangering his life and without disturbing 

 the herds too much. 



The pups on all the rookeries have been counted in the two past 

 seasons. They should be recounted in 1914, as I have already 

 pointed out, because the increase of the herd next season should be 

 normal; that is, the increment of gain should be normal, because it 

 comes from a birth rate which was unaffected by pelagic sealing. 

 The birth rate of 1911, which gave us the increment of 1913, was 

 affected by pelagic sealing. 



The breeding grounds are full of cracks and chasms through which 

 pups and cows drop and become imprisoned. They should be filled 

 up and made safe. There are areas back of the rookeries which are 

 crumbling cliffs and produce landslides and endanger cows and pups. 

 Mr. Marsh and I found one of these landslides with 7 pups pro- 

 jecting out from it dead. We did not dig it out to find out how many 

 more were under it. But it fell on a harem and covered those pups, 

 and there is a mile or more of that sort of cliff which needs to be 

 looked after every summer. 



There are certain sandy areas which in the past have been infected 

 with the dangerous hookworm pest. This hookworm lodges in the 

 filth that accumulates in the sand. The eggs are probably carried 

 over there and taken up on the fur of the mother and are nursed in by 

 the pup, or they may be absorbed through the pores of the body. 

 Thej develop in the small intestine and cause the pup to die of 

 anemia or to be so weak that it is stepped upon and crushed by the 

 first bull that makes a dash over it. The areas are now practically 

 immune from this worm, because they have not been used or occupied 

 for several seasons by the diminishing herd; but in the season of 1913 

 the herd pushed back to a large extent upon these areas, and in due 

 time will reenter them, and thev will thus a^ain become a menace to 



/ •_ CD 



the herd. At this time it ought to be the duty of the department 

 to see that these areas are paved or set in with rock and fixed in such 

 way that with a pump and a hose a gang of natives can go and clean off 

 the infection and dirt and render them safe. This hookworm is not a 

 myth. It killed thousands of pups in 1896-97 to our knowledge, and 

 in the past history of the herd it killed hundreds of thousands. 



The present suspension of land killing is a clumsy and wasteful way 

 of accomplishing a certain end which is commendable; that is, the 

 establishment of a breeding reserve of males that shall not be lacking 

 in efficiency. This is a very important problem, and should be han- 

 dled in a sane way. To overstock the nerd at one timo, and then, 

 perhaps, to let it go indefinitely without attention is not the proper 



