INVESTIGATION OF THE EUK-SEAL INDUSTRY OP ALASKA. 507 



the same areas for the pups that we counted in 1896 and 1897, and 

 having got the average harem, applied it to the remaining harems 

 and made up the census on that basis. 



The Chairman. How many cows did you find there in 1909 ? 



Mr. Clark. Breeding cows, 50,626. 



Mr. McGuire. Did you reach that conclusion by counting the 

 pups ? 



Mr. Clark. We counted them on one-fourth of the area of the 

 breeding grounds, and then applied the average harem obtained from 

 that to the total number of harems. 



The Ghatrnam. What number of breeding cows were there there 

 in 1911 and 1912? 



Mr. Clark. I am not aware of the number in 1911, because I was 

 not on the islands that year. 



The Chairman. Do you know anything about 1912? 



Mr. Clark. The number of breeding cows in 1912 was 81,984. 



The Chairman. That is the figure I have here. 



Mr. Clark. That is made from the full count of the pups. 



The Chairman. I have been asked to ask you how they increased ? 



Mr. Clark. Increased in what way ? 



The Chairman. From 1909 to 1912 there was an increase of 31,000. 



Mr. Clark. I have Just explained in answering Mr. McGuire's 

 question that in 1909 I counted pups in only one-fourth of all the 

 harems. These were necessarily the more scattered rookeries, and 

 the average harem there was less than on the larger rookeries, which 

 we could not count either in 1909 or in 1896 and 1897. Therefore, 

 the figures of 1909 are an underestimate and should be corrected. 

 In 1909 I was charged with the task of duplicating the work of 1896 

 and 1897, and therefore I was forced to take the same basis in order 

 to get the same comparative results. 



While pelagic sealing was in force, the herd was declining, and it 

 made no difference about its exact condition at any one time. The 

 important thing was the measure of decrease year by year. That 

 is why the 1909 estimate is an underestimate as compared with 1912. 

 A change of basis was made in 1912 because the herd had been 

 freed from pelagic sealing and was no longer declining, was in fact 

 at its lowest point. Therefore the count of all the pups was under- 

 taken. And we repeated the count of 1912 in 1913 in order to de- 

 termine how much the herd had increased between the two seasons. 



Mr. McGuire. In the absence of pelagic sealing it is possible to 

 get an almost accurate count of the present number of seals there, 

 is it not ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. There has been, Mr. Clark, in the past an expression 

 of opinion sonewhat varying as to the size of a normal harem. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. What would you regard as the size of a normal 

 harem ? 



Mr. Clark. From my experience in 1912 and 1913,1 should say that 

 anvwhere from 50 to 70 cows would be a normal harem. 



The Chairman. You say from 15 to 17? 



Mr. Clark. No, I say from 50 to 70 cows would be a normal 

 harem. The 92,269 pups of 1913 were chargeable to 1,358 harems 



