47 
flow in the vicinity of Fox islands east of cape Dorset, and on July 20, two 
were seen in the bay opposite Cape Dorset post. A few are killed each 
summer and autumn at Amadjuak bay. 
Kumlien (1879, p. 61) writes: 
“This seal was first noticed a little to the southward of cape Chidley, and thence 
northward to our winter harbour in about latitude 67 degrees north .... On the west 
coast of Davis strait they are not rare, but are said by whalemen to diminish in numbers 
about latitude 75 degrees north. They appear to be more common on the southern shores 
of the west coast of Davis strait than on the northern, so that the natives go southwards 
some distance to secure the skins. Was noticed among the pack ice in Davis strait in 
July and August.” 
The skin of the bearded seal is highly valued by the Eskimo. Being 
very durable and waterproof, it is universally employed for the manufacture 
of boot-soles, heavy lines, lashings, dog harness, and kayak covers. The 
demand for the skin of the bearded seal was at one time heavier than now, 
for at that time the skins were used as covers for heavy boats or omiaks, 
fifteen skins or more being required for each boat. 
The bearded seal appears to prefer the open sea and the larger bays 
and fiords, unlike hispida and concolor, which frequent the smaller bays 
and inlets. Kumlien (1879, p. 62) observes: 
“They dive to great depths after their food, which is almost entirely Crustacea, mollusks. 
and even clams of considerable size. This seal has the habit of turning a somersault when 
about to dive, especially when fired at; this peculiarity, which is not shared by any other 
species that I have seen, is a characteristic by which it may be distinguished at a consider- 
able distance. During May and June they crawl out upon an ice-floe, to bask and sleep; 
at such times they are easily approached by the Eskimo in their kayaks and killed. An 
adult will often measure 10 feet between the two extremes. The colour is variable; the 
tawniness more or less clouded with lighter or darker markings irregularly dispersed. By 
July some of them become almost naked. At this season their stomachs contained nothing 
but stones, some of them of nearly a quarter pound weight. They seem to eat nothing 
during the entire time of shedding, proably six weeks. Certain it is they lose all their 
blubber, and by the middle of July have nothing but “Whitehorse,” a tough, white, some- 
what cartilaginous substance, in place of blubber. At this season they sink when shot. 
Some specimens were procured that had scarcely any teeth at all, and in many adults the 
teeth can almost be plucked out with the fingers. The young are born upon pieces of 
floating ice, without any covering of snow. The season of procreation is during the fore 
part of May. After the young have shed their first woolly coat (which they do in a few 
days), they have a beautiful steel-blue hair, but generally so clouded over with irregularly 
dispersed patches of white that its beauty is spoiled. A foetus was procured near the 
Middliejuacktwack islands, April 28. Its extreme length was 4 feet 7 inches.” 
Hantzsch (1913, p. 156) states that the species very seldom occurs in 
Blacklead Island region. During the winter of 1909-10 very few specimens 
were taken there. He saw the skin of a young animal taken near Nuvujen 
which was “uniform greyish black, except where white-haired, even if 
somewhat shorter than in Phoca hispida He states that on November 
19, a female was captured with young 40 centimetres in length. In colour 
it was blackish grey, with three whitish spots on the back. The back of 
the head had a similar spot, only larger. The body was naked except for 
some fine hairs on the head. Bristles of the beard were already strongly 
developed. He states that the species was rather commonly observed 
along Foxe channel near the mouth of Koukdjitariak river. In January, 
1911, breathing holes of this seal were seen in the vicinity of the above- 
mentioned winter camp, and Hantzsch remarks that they “are naturally 
considerably larger than those of the ordinary ringed seal”. Kumlien 
says, “They remain in the sound only during the time there is open water 
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