Arizona republican., 1893-08-02
THE ALASKAN SEALS.
Their Habits Described by an
American Lawyer.
Why Canadian Poschers Must BE Pre-
vented from Carrying on Their Gus
tomary Depredations-The
Two Seal Groups.

a. ans argument before the arbitra-
tors in the Behring sea case Mr. Cou-
dert, of counsel for the United States,
gave an interesting account of the
habits of the Alaskan seal, over the
proprietorship of which the whole con-
test is being wagcd. The peculiar
thing about these seals is that, al
though in their journey from the south
to their stamping grounds in the
Behring they pass islands innumera-
bic, they invariably select two groups,
and only two, as their summer home.
One of these is on the coast of Asia
and is known as Commanderoff. The
other is the Pribyloff islands, two in
number-St. Paul and st. George-off
the Alaskan shore These islands are
but specks in the surrounding waters.
St. Paul contains but thirty-two square
miles and st. George twenty-seven
square miles Why these two groups
should be selected is what no natural
lis has as yet been able satisfactorily
to explain. Nevertheless the fact re-
mains that it is to them and to them
alone that the seals annually resort
while in northern waters.
About this season of the year the
Pacific ocean north of the fortieth de-
gree of north latitude is literally
sprinkled with seals on their way from
southern waters to their northern sum
mer resort. The males appear TO be
more rapid swimmers than the females
At all events they arrive at the islands
a week or two ahead of the females.
On reaching them they Immediately
proceed to select quarters on them for
their summer abode, and these quar-
tiers are always at some point near the
sea, from which it is easily accessible
When they arrive they are rolling in
fat and weigh somewhere in the neigh
borhood of five hundred pounds each.
About the beginning of Juns.the fe-
males begin to arrive and few hours
after reaching the shore they give
birth to their young. The males then
begin choosing their mates, the num-
Der OF their wives being limited only
by their capacity of offense and de-
Tense. Fierce conflicts frequently oc-
cur over these selections and the
stronger always come out on the top.
While on the islands the male seals
eat next to nothing.
They appear to live on the superfu-
Gus fat they have accumulated during
the winter season, and when they start
out again on their southern trip they
are living skeletons. The southern
trip is begun early in August and as a
rule the islands are clear of seals by
the end of that month. A few strag-
glers may remain till November, after
which none are seen till the following
May. The male seal is six years Of age
before he begins to mate and it is from
the school of bachelors that the lessees
of the islands select the one hundred
thousand they are allowed to kill each
season. These are taken from those
between three and four years of age,
the skins being most valuable at that
time. OF course it is impossible to dis
criminate as to age or sex when the
seals arr in the open sea, and there;
fore the necessity of preventing the
Canadian poachers from carrying on
their depredations. They kill all they
meet without respect to age or sex.