Evening star., 1939-02-26
Gordon STUDENT H. Proud Owner Missing Napoleon Medal
y. S. Protects Biggest Animal Herd
Two Million Seals Watched Over
BY Coast Guard Under Treaty

Imagine yourself riding herd on
the worlds largest single group of
animals-2,000,000 sleek, brown fur
seals!
From the deck of United States
Coast Guard cutter, the RedWing.
you watch the bobbing heads that
dot the broad Pacific as far as you
can see. The seals are headed north
along the British Columbia coast,
after winter of cruising the Pacific
in search Of food.
Through binoculars you see long,
light canoe put out to sea. The
cedar log canoe is padded by 10
bronzed, muscular young Indians,
stripped to the waist.
One Indian has harpoon poised,
but the seals carefully keep out of
range. A seal can swim as fast as
60 miles an hour, and Indian hunt
ers have little success as the herd
passes up the coast.
Only American and Canadian In
dians may hunt the seals at sea.
This right was guaranteed when
tribal chiefs signed treaties promis-
ing to keep the peace, but the In
dians are limited to the hunting
weapons they used before the white
men came.
Herd Moves Northward.
The herd moves slowly up the
British Columbia and Alaskan
coasts, to pass from the Pacific into
the icy Bering Sea. BY midsummer
it reaches three tiny islands of the
Probilof group. That is the only
place where the seals ever touch
land.
The tough old bull seals, which
spent the winter in the Bering while
the others went south, are waiting
for the herd, each on his own plot
of the beach.
The baby seals. or pups are
born soon after their mothers ar
rive on the islands. Although they
spend most of their lives in the
water. they are timid at first. and
cannot swim. When a youngster
hcsltates about going into the water
Tor the first time, he is frequently
spanked by his mothers fipper and
showed in,
The mother seals leave their chill
dren to swim out into the Berlne
Sea hunting. Their favorite food is
the small octopus. Sometimes the
mothers range as far as SEQ miles
from the islands before each rc.url.a S
to nurse her own baby.
In years past a ring Of boats sur
rounded the islands, outside the
limits governed by American law.
Seals were shot as they passed out
to sea or returned When Il mother
seal was killed her baby on the
island died from starvation.
Seal Herd Shrinks.
Because of this uncontrolled hunt
ing the number of seals in ;he herd
decreased from about 5000 900 in
1867, when the United States bought
the Pribilol Islands With I'll of
Alaska from Russia for s725O.OOO.
to less than 200000 IN 1912.
In that year the Uuited s ates.
Great Britain, Japan and Russia
signed treaty driving the hunters
from the seas. Since than the seal
herd has increased steadily.
Under supervision Of the United
States Bureau of Fisheries. Aiculian
Indians remove $4,000 3-year-old
male seals from the hero Tor their
furs each year A seal has beautiful
brown, silky fur. covered by an
outer layer of coarse guard hairs"
The hair is so thick that although
he spends his life in the water, he
never gets wet.
The seal furs are tanned and dyed
in lustrous black and dark brown,
then sold at auction by the Gov
ernment. The proceeds are divided.
10 per cent to the United States, Is
per cent to Great Britain and Is
per cent to Japan. That is a pro-
vision of the 1912 treaty.