The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-09-18
BY RENE BACHE.

10
Tho most fcrocious animal in the
world!
Ga predatory and so destructive
that the government Of the United
states IS ready and anxious to make
war upon II.
II ia a dcnizen OF the sea. Yet Il Is
/. not a fish. no species of fish, not
nyeu the man-eating tiger shark, ap-
proacheH IL In fierCencss or Is nearly
so dangerous.
II rs a mammal. But the tiger Of
tho Jungle and the dreaded grizzly
bear are mild and inoffonsive ami
mails compared with this wolf OF the
orpan-the killer" whale.
We are accustomed to thinS Of
whales as harmless ana inoffcnsivg
creatures. SO. indeed, they are, gem
orally speaking. But the killer Ia a
true beast Of prey. 1t CONNOLLY at
taDks and devours other whales, OF
the larger kinds,
The killer is a small whale, elk
teen to twenty feet long, and when
~full-gruwn weighs hardly more than
a ton. It's jaws are armed with huge
couipal teeth. and Il can swim as fast
as an express train can rum.
D~pprudations committed by this
species Of whale are costing our gov
eminent at least five million dollars
a year, which is the reason why the
authorities want to wage war against
It.
Destroyer OF Seal Pups
II is the fur seals that are imme-
diately concerned. About one hun
dred and seventy thousand seal pups
were born on the Pribylof Islands, in
Boring Sea. last summer. and 1t is
estimated that eighty thousand Of
them will be devoured by killer
whales before they reach three years
Of age.
This means a loss of considerably
over five million dollars, reckoning
the market value Of the furs they
would yield II permitted TO grow up.
The seals OF the Pribylofs are the
property Of Uncle Sam. he sells an
nuallv at auction the SKINS taken on
the islands, and the money goes into
the Treasury.
A century ago there were probably
more than two million seals on the
islands. Ruthless slaughter by skin
hunters steadily reduced their num-
bers until. In the nineties, Congress
came very nea to passing a resolu-
ton directing that the survivors
should be killed and the problem
thus finally disposed of. Luckily,
however, and agreement was
brought about with Great Britain
and Japan by which protection was
given TO tho herd, poaching being
made a criminal offense.
Since then the herd has become an
important money-producing asset.
The seals are yielding n profit Of five
million dollars per annum ana their
total value today is certainly not less
than one hundred millions. Thanks
TO the protection granted thom-in
the enforcement of which armed
revenue cutters play a conspicuous
part-they have rapidly increased In
numbers. and at the present time
the herd does not fall far short of
six hudred thousand individuals,
Twenty Pups at "A Meal
During the warm season OF the
year, when the seals breed. the
round about the P~rlbylofs Ia a prowl-
ing ground for large numbers OF kill
or whales, hungry and Unsuitable.
They are waiting for the pups to go
into the water to take their first
y lessons in swimming. Then they COB
bic them up. Occasionally one is
captured by the native Alcuts with a
dozen or perhaps twenty pups In It's
stomach.
They hunt in packs like wolves
and, while young seals are learning
10 swim in shallow water, they rush
upon them among the rocSs. Now
and then one of them gets stranded
in this way, and IL killed by the
Aleuts, who promptly cut it to
pieces, turning its flesh to account
Tor meat and extracting its oil for
their lamps. The species has no
commercial value except for oil.
II Is a firm belief OF the Alaskan
natives that the killers really are
wolves metamorphosed into small
whales. They are supposed to go on
occasions to the edge of the ice
along shore, and theroupon to
change their shape and emerge In
the form Of wolves. on the other
hand, the wolves OF the land do,
when so inclined, come down to the
shore and, %plunging in, become kill
er whales.
~Man-eating sharks. with all their
terocity, are stupiad creatures. Kill
er whales ~ highly intelligent, and
GIFTED with extraordinary cunning. II
IS difficult o nthls account to capture
them; and 10 hunt them Is exceed
ingly dangerous sport, inasnuch as,
II their anger be reused. they will
not hesitate 10 attack men In boats,
a story IA told OF two men, driven
eminent employees, who were driven
ny a killer 10 take refuge in "A small
cave on the face OF a cliff, near the
waters edge, their boat being smash