Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1893-08-06
THE ALASKAN SEALS.
,,r Habits Described by an
4n'I American Lawyer
allan Poachers Must lie Pre-
Why Co., Carrying on Their Gus
" tomary Depredations-The
Two Seal Groups.

orrrr1Cnt before the arbitra-
:" :, the Wrhring sea case Mr.. Cou'
i 3,,t n counsel for the United States
~ srs an interesting account OF the
s ",t ~ the Alaskan seal, over the
a"y,,i ,t,r,h;n If which the whole con-
|tt i heinz waged. The peculiar
g.. about these seals is that, al
L r',T in their journey from the south
heir stamping grounds in the
p,bripg they pass islands innumera-
~, tbrv Invariably select two groups,
VA VA onIv two. as their summer home.
0ns Of these is on the coast of Asia
va ! known as Commandment. The
.L.r is the Pribyloff islands, two in
a,brr-St. Paul and st, George-otf
~ Alaskan shore. These islands are
-. srecks in the surrounding waters.
3 Paul contains but thirty-two square
lies and 81. George twenty-seven
marc miles. Why these two groups
lid he selected is what no natural
=. has rs vet been able satisfactorily
|.,svnlain. Nevertheless the fact re-
AIMS that il is to them and to them
me that the seals annually resort
chile in northern waters.
Ahou, this season of the year the
pacific ocean north of the fortieth de-
,ree Of north latitude is literally
',-;nl,led with seals on their way from
| ,,r,bprn waters to their northern sum-
NOR resort. The males appear to be
more rapid swimmers than the females.
| all events they arrive at the islands
week or two ahead of the females.
n, reaching them they Immediately
--,,ced to select quarters on them for
asir summer abode, and these quar-
80, are always at some point near the
.s from which il is easily accessible.
| Vlar they arrive they are rolling in
| a, and weigh somewhere in the neigh
| b,-bood of five hundred pounds each,
About the beginning of Jups.the fe-
males hevin to arrive and few hours
after reaching the shore they give
b;r,h TO their Young. The males then
Ss-in choosing their mates, the num-
her Of their wives being limited only
ny their capacity of ofrense and de-
tense. Fierce conflicts frequently oc-
,rr over these selections and the
stronger always come ont on the top.
/ While On the islands the male seals
eat next To nothing.
They appear to live on the superfu-
Gus ia, they have accumulated during
,hevirter season, and when they start
5g,a-atn on their southern trip they
are living skeletons. The southern
,r.9t> begun early in August and as a
-r,e ,na stands are clear of seals by
the end % that month. \ few stray
c,ers NAV remain till November, after
which zone are seen till the following
Mar The male seal is six years of age
before be begins to mate and it is from
I The schoo, OF bachelors that the lcsSees
q 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.
.1e skins being most valuable at that
tine Ntcourse it is impossible to dis
,-Ir2'r rs to age or sex when the
seas art IN the open sea, and there
fore the necessity of preventing the
canadian poachers froA carrying on
heir Expectations. They kill all they
leetwithout respect to age or sex.