The Washington herald., 1911-12-25
CAPTIVE FUR SEAL
PUPS ARE THRIVING
Washington Has Eightof the
Dozen in Captivity.

or the ten fur seal pups brought to the
States recently from St. PauTs Island,
Alaska, by the United States revenue
cutter Bear. two are now in the aquarium
belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries,
Department of Commerce and Labor over
in the Mall. near Sixth street southwest:
four are lodged in the National Zoologi-
cal Park; two are in the New York City
Aquarium. and two are in the care of
Tevor Kincaid, professor of zoology in
the University of Washington, at Seattle.
There were already Two pups in the
Bureau of Fisheries pool. SO that this
addition doubles the number there. All
told, there are now eight of these lubberly
youngsters sOjourning at the National
Capital. Although they have now been
away from their far northwest habitat
for a number of months. the pups are
in healthy condition and enjoying their
captivity. There Is only dozen of these
little animals, so far as known, outside
of the rookeries.
Live on Fresh Fish.
The Bureau of Fisheries arranged with
Boatswain Thurber, of the Bear. to bring
over the present shipment of ten pups,
which he did in very successful man.
ner. The eight pups brought East are
now five months old, and upon the ar
rival here OF the four at the National
Geological Park the two males tipped
the scales at IS and 351s pounds, and the
two females q and 2Sk pounds; the male
in the New York Aquarium weighed %
pounds and the female q pounds, and the
male in the Bureau of Fisheries weighed
q pounds and the female 1917 pounds. OF
the last two, the male was 80 inches long
and % inches in circumference, and the
female % inches long and 1915 inches in
circumference.
The male fur seal is always heavier
than the female, a full-grown male
weighing as much as 400 pounds and the
female 100 to $50 pounds. They are fed
twice a day-in the morning, between Z
and o'clock, and in the afternoon, be-
tween 2 and o'clock. Their diet IS
fresh fish. usually gray trout. and some
times spotted sea trout, which they take
eagerly, each eating from 5 to pounds
daily.
The experiments with the pups, con-
Quoted under the direction of the Blu
leau Of Fisheries, have demonstrated
conclusively that fur seals can be taught
to take food when offered by men; can
be kept in captivity and carried long
distances on vessels or railroad trains,
without any special difficulty; that they
will live and thrive in fresh water; that
a salt water environment is not essential,
dllu ludl llltJ Sdl I'VE "llHOul any APP
parent discomfort in water of a much
higher temperature than that OF their
natural habitat.
Interesting Possibilities.
There are a number OF interesting
possibilities suggested by the experiment
To save the hundreds and thousands Of
pups whose mothers are killed every
year by the pelagic sea pirates, it would
be necessary to feed the pups artificially
only until the herd leaves the Pribilof
islands late in the fall Then they might
be permitted to leave the islands with
the rest of the pups and their chances
of survival in the sea would be quite as
good as any. The supplying Of fur seals
to public aquariums and geological
parks is another possibility which seems
entirely practicable. The establishment
OF colony of fur seals in some fresh
water lake is another prospect.
The fur seals have proved the most in
teresting pets in the aquarium at the
Bureau Of Fisheries. They are the most
expert swimmers imaginable. Their IA
vorite pastime IS to swim around the
large pool in which they are kept, some
times with marvellous rapidity, often
jumping like porpoises and splashing
water on unsuSpecting visitors. They cir
Gle about the pool. always turning to the
right with the hands of the clock. Inn
mediately after feeding they begin
scratching and rubbing themselves, q
sort of massage which doubtless aids d.
gestion.
Saving the Motherless.
The possibility of saving these mother
less pups from starvation has often been
considered, and several attempts have
been f1aada 70 induce them tn take arti-
fetal food. but without success, as the
pups Experimental with refused absolute
ly to take any kind OF food. Similar at
tempts with older or adult seals also
failed. In early los the Alaska Com