The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-18
FIR SEALS FAST DYING OUT.
IN rrU LEFT NOW THAT HUNT
w re THEM DOESN'T PAY.
,..,,d,an sealers Turning to Other In-
dnstr,es-Prescnt Regulations EHi.
IDENTIFY Small Protection, Yet the Fish
ors s,IIl Oppose Our suggested Rules.

orrBEC. Sept. l7.-Canadian experts
Eo M secret Of their belief In the near
n',;nction Of the Behring Sea fur seals.
~ diminished returns Of the vessels en-
.ooed in the sealing industry are leading
- of them TO seek lucrative employ
oni asewhere While only twenty-four
rana4;an sealing craft participated In the
.',n, las, wear. as against thirty-fve in
,soo The number now sweeping the north
pacific in chase of pelts is still smaller.
Tho total Canadian catch in 1902 was only
,s,,s skins Last year it amounted to
:. "a, and the twenty-four vessels that
.scrred them employed 200 white men.
a9s Indians. 90 boats and 1874 canoes.
The result of the frightful slaughter OF
tho Behring Sea seals for many years may
be Judged when it Is recalled that In one
season Baroneff, the former head OF the
old Russian fur company, recorded N
bis dispatches that in consequence OF the
lack Of proper means Of transportation
10 Siberia no less than 100000 fur seal
slins that had been faulty stored
had become spoiled and had to be thrown
away. Yet even these enormous figures
fail TO convey an adequate idea OF the rich
ness Of the famous Pribyloff Islands at
the time of their discovery in 1888 by the
Siberian Cossack of that name.
For wears before this discovery daring
Siberian fur hunters had pursued vigor-
o,ls search for the legendary "Amik the
Eldorado of furs, the breeding ground
Of the fur seal, where they well knew that
the REGULAR instincts Of the animal must
lead to the con gregation of untold numbers
during the propa ting season. And rich
indeed we're the spos Of PibylofY when.
drifting with torn sails In the desolaton
of Behring Sea, he CHANGED by a sudden
lifting OF the fog upon the four tiny mist
enveloped specks Of rockbound land and
discovered upon the two largest OF the group
vast herds Of fur seals.
He named the two islands-one OF which
is thirteen, the other ten miles long-after
his two small vessels, St. Paul and st.
George and filed his craft to the top OF
the hold, crowding the decks with bales OF
peltries-even precious water casks were
thrown overheard to make room for his
valuable cargo. He carried away with
him on this occasion 2,720 sea otter skins,
tn, most valuable fur that grows. 5000
silver and blue fox skins, and no fewer than
81 100 seal skins.
Later, the famous Russian Fur Company,
in which many great mobiles and even mem
bers OF the Cars family were partners,
realized great wealth. In addition to the
enormous quantities Of seals taken in Behr-
Ing Sea, the neighboring Aleutian Islands,
stretching in string from Asia to America
furnished them with rich supplies OF sea
otter. blue, black and silver fox, and other
valuable furs, from a field which, in a CEN
hry's fur hunting, has since become almost
completely exhausted.
The latest inquiries OF the naturalists
into the habits Of the seas show the futhity
of narrow zones Of protection around the
islands during the breeding season. The
breeding range OF the female seas extends
at ,east fifty miles from the rocks on which
the young are lying. II they are killed, as
they constantly are, when on these foraging
expeditions, the pups die Of starvation.
since no mother seal will adopt another's
young. In one recent year more than
osOO0 pups were found starved to death on
the PribylofY Islands, because their mothers
had been killed willis in search OF food
beyond the radius Of protection
Recent investigations have established
the rather curious fact that the fur seal
was once, and to a certain extent still is, a
land animal The habits and form Of i'm
mature animals are now regarded as the
most certain indication OF the original
status OF species. Now, baby seals can
nun on land though their parents can only
crawl. and they are so Far from being
aquatic that they drown If put in the water
The pups are actually afraid Of the water
They have to learn to swim by repeated
Efforts, and even when able to maintain
tto.csn'v,s in quiet water will rush away
IN lcicrous haste from an approaching
vave
When they have learned how to swim
they forget how to walk. While the pup
uses its hind flippers as feet, running on
them in much the same manner as other
land animals. seal that has learned to
swim only drags it's hind fippers,
That the seals are still eliminating in
numbers and that they have gone on
diminishing in spite OF the Paris regula-
tons are facts which admit OF little ques-
ton 4 little more than fifteen years ago
an arproxin ate estimate Of the animals
found on the islands of the Pribylof' group
gave a total of 5000 900. The rookeries
and the hauling grounds were packed so
closely that there vas literally not room
enough for all the seals to live comfortably.
A careful count made some five years later
resulted in the enumeration OF little more
than zoo 900
Under the terms OF the original lease
the company in possession Of the islands
was permitted to kill 100 900 bachelor males
every season. High as that limit appears
it was really small by comparison with
the number of the hole herd Down to
the time hen pelagic sealing began to be
prosecuted in the Behring Sea as we'll as
in the open waters of the North Pacific
there vas little apparent falling of
But in 1890, the last year Of the old lease,
the Alaska Commercial Company found
IT impossible to take the number Of bach
elors or e-katchies" permitted by law,
simply because there We're not 100 900 to
take, Under the new lease to the North
American Commercial Company it was
stipulated that the Secretary Of the Treas
ury should fix the annual catch at his dis
cretion In 1895 Mr.. Carlisle found 1t
necessary to restrict the land catch to
5000 male skins. In that same year the
vessels engaged in the pelagic branch OF
the industry numbered ninety-seven, OF
which eightv-seven we're employed in the
award area Between them they killed