Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-24
Seal Life.
Review of Report by Henry W. Elliott on the Alaska
Seal Eishery.l


Seal life on the Pribylov islands consists of
the fur seal-''the kautickie' of the Russian
the sea lion (Eumetopias stellerD, the hair seal
lPhoca vitulna), and the walrus (Odobenus
ooesus), the Russian "morsjee." But it Ia only
the fur seal which particularly interests Us. A
male is at six or seven years old in the prime of
life. When he comes to land from the sea in
the breeding season he will measure from 61S
to ~ feet in length, and will weigh from 400
TO 600 pounds. In the first week Of May such
males as land are among the oldest of the
bulls. These are designated by the natives as
'see-catch." By the first of June, when true
seal weather has set in, ''the fOggy humid
oozy damp Of summer" the bull seals swarm
by the thousand These creatures hold
all the advantageous positions On the land and
| await the coming of the females, ''who are gen.
orally three weeks or a month later than this
date of arrival" Before this comes the battle
OF the males. Zach one seems determined to
hold a portion of ground, usually ''abOut six to
eight feet square," As new arrivals reach the
| shore, these being the fresher creatures, they
drive back the cOmbatants, who have exhausted
themselves in fighting. None but the old and
adult male seal fights, and the punishment is in
fiicted entirely by their mouths. 'The oppo-
nents seize one another with their teeth aud
then, clenching their jaws, nothing but the
sheer strength of the one and the other tug
ging to escape can shake them loose and that
effort invariably leaves an ugly wound, the
sharp CANNES tearing out deep cutters in the
skin and burrows in the blubber, or shreddng
the 1ippers into ribbOn-strips."
The covering Of the body is composed of two
coats: one is the short and glistening overhair,
the other the close elastic fur Mr. Elliott COM
pares these coverings to the feathers and down
OF bird. The roOkeries are noisy to degree.
| The sound, sOftened by distance, resembles the
booming of a cataract. and can be heard six
miles at sea. Night and day, without cessation,
this uproar continues. Between the 18th and
| 14th of June, the female seal appear, and then
comes a ''periOd of universal and desperate
fighting among the males" Though the males
| have been been quarreling all the time from the
moment they first landed. and continue to do
so until the end of the season, in August, vet
that fighting which takes place at this date is
the blOOdiest and most yindictiye known to the
seal. The cows are from 4 to AZ feet
weigh from 60 to 20 pounds, and are more
shapely than the males. All these female seals
OF certain age are pregnant and come to the
shore to be delivered of their young. Soon after
landing the young seals are born and sucked
The young seals seem to be endowed with a
wonderful amount of vitality, and to have "a
physical organization beyond the tabled nine
lives OF cat" The mothers are very indifferent
to their offspring. but still endowed with some
marvellous instinct which enables each female to
know which is her offspring. The female. after
the birth OF her pups, goes to the water, feeds
and bathes. On her return, though there are
thousands of young seals, she calls for her pup,
and If there is no response she waits for her
little one may be asleep. But as soon as it
wakes 1t cries. and at once, among so many
sounds, she recognizes the call. The pups swarm
together, Mr.. Elliott says, like bees" and such
living masses OF young ones are called by sealers
pods" Very shortly after the birth of the
young the females are prepared to reproduce
their kind.
Between the close Of July and the 5th to the
9Th OF August the appearance of the rOOkeries
has changed. The breeding season is over
About the end of August the males have left
Before the middle of August three-fourths of
the females are off in the water, coming ashore
at irregular intervals to nurse and look after
their pups. Now the pups teach themselves the
art of swimming. for from birth until month
old they never get near the water save by acct
dent. The mothers do not take any part in the
instruction OF their young, nor do they drive
the pups into the water" 1t is an affair of in
stinct. They blunder into the sea in an ungainly
way at first, but show no fear dislike, and are
always ready when old enough to make a new
effort. During all the period when the males
are On the hauling ground they eat nothing,
though the females when they go to sea must
feed. for though the males diminish in weight
the females do not
There are a certain number of male seals
called bachelor seals, or 'holuschickie" As
these are not permitted by the adult males on
the breeding grounds thev form a numerous
squad apart pathway in some places is APP
parently left for them, allowing ingress and
egress between the harems. From this path
the bachelor seal does not stray, or woe betide
him. for he would be torn limb from limo BY the
Older ''see-catchie." Often numerous bodies of
these younger males are found behind the gen.
eral nerd OF in front of them. These are the
seals from which the pelts are deprived. These
bachelors do not fast, but go when they can
backward and forward to the sea for food or
pastime. They are exceedingly restless, but
always In good humOr, and are the great
swimmers Of the seal tribe. Their ages are
from yearlings and up to five years old. By the
end of October. or latest by the tenth of No
vember, the 'hOluschickie' have all gone
They have spread over the waters of the North
Pacific.
Mr.. Elliott has endeavored to form some esti-
mate OF the whole number Of seals belonging to
the fur-seal islands of Alaska, but we take only
his figures for st. Paul, which he presents as
having on its shores at the hight of the season
not less than $3.50. 900 seals. He thinks that
something like million of seals are born every
year on the Pribylov group. The manner OF
separating the bachelor seals has been frequently
described. They are driven to q place apart
from the herd and then knocked on the head They
are exceedingly dOcile, and apparently behave
like sheep. If any old seals are in the drove
they show fight. AS their fur is not valuable,
they are allowed to escape, when they return to
their rOOkery. In about forty days, within rad
ius of one mile and half from the village of st.
Paul. 100 600 seals can be killed. After the seals
are killed by clubbing, with sharp knife cut
is made just back of the Snout, behind the hind
fiippers. then longitudinal cut, and the skin is
taken of. The skins are then sailed In order to
preserve them. If the meat is entirely cleared of
bubber. Mr. Elliott states that it is quite as good
as beef, mutton or pork"
AS about 100000 of these seals are taken every
year, the question arises whether in time their
number will diminish. Mr.. Elliott thinks that
the thinning out process does not affect the seals
In the least. The females are never killed and
he adds, that under the present rules and reg
ulatiOns governing the sealing interests in these
islands. the increase or diminution of the seal
life will amount to nothing In the future"
Diphthcria.
DR.. Franklin Staples, of Winona, MIMI, after
an extended correspondence with physicians in
most Of the counties Of his state. has published
report on diphtheria In which he classes the