There are three families of the Sea Carnivora,- the Fur-seals, or Eared Deals; the Walrus; and the True or Earless Seals.
The first group, which are called EARED SEALS, and occasionally SEA-LIONS, have a small outer ear, and when on land the hind flippers are folded forwards beneath the body. there is a distinct neck, and on the flippers are rudimentary claws. Some of the eared seals have the close and fine under-fur which makes their capture so remunerative. Under the skin there is often a thick layer of blubber, which is also turned to commercial uses by the sealers.
The WALRUS stands by itself. It is a purely Arctic species, whereas fur-seals are found from Bering Sea to the Antarctic; and forms in some degree a connecting link between the eared seals and the true seals. Like the former, it turns the front flippers forwards and inwards when on land; but it resembles the true seals in having no external ears. The upper canine teeth are developed into enormous tusks of hard ivory.
The COMMON SEALS are the most thoroughly aquatic. the hind flippers seem almost to have coalesced with the tail, and are always directed backwards in line with it. They have no under-fur. On land they can only use the front flippers to aid their progress.
Most seals are marine, though some are found in the land-locked sea of lake Baikal, in Central Asia, and the true seals often come up rivers.
THE EARED SEALS, OR SEA-LIONS
These and the walrus have their hind limbs so far free that they can crawl on land and use their flippers for other purposes than swimming; they can comb their hair with them, and walk in an awkward way. they are divided into the fur-seals and hair-seals in the language of trade. The fur-seals are those from which ladies' sealskin jackets are made; the hair-seals are sought for their hide as and oil. A demand has sprung up for the latter to make coats for automobilists to wear when riding at high speed in cold weather. the "porpoise-hide" boots are really made from the skin of the hair-seal.
Both hair-seals and fur-seals have in common the remarkable habit of assembling in large herds during the breeding-season, and of spending a long period on land after the young are born. The male seals reach the islands, or 'rookeries", first, followed by the females. The latter give birth to their young almost as soon as they reach the rocks, and are then seized and gathered into harems by the strongest and oldest males. the sea-lions of Patagonia, equally with the fur-seals of Bering Sea and the Pribyloff islands, never feed during the whole time which they spend on the rocks, often for a period of two months.
THE FUR-SEALS
The NORTHERN FUR-SEAL is the only member of this group surviving in any number. These animals still annually resort to the Aleutian Islands, in the territory of Alaska, in great herds to produce their young, and to certain other islets off the coast of Japan. This Northern fur-seal, from the fur of which the sealskin jackets are obtained is, when full-grown, between 6 and 7 feet long. The females are only 4 feet or 4 1/2 feet in length. The shoulder of the male is gray, the rest of the body varying between reddish gray and deep black. The female is lighter in color. Males of this species are not full grown till six years of age, but breed when four years old. The females produce young at three years of age. The male seals take possesion of the females almost immediately after reaching the breeding grounds, each male collecting as many females as it can found in. The pups keep with their mothers. This assemblage is surrounded by great numbers of young male o bachelor seals, which the old males prevent from annexing any of the females. The greatest of these gathering places are on the Pribyloff Islands and certain other islets in Bering Sea. By the end of May both male and female seals swim in flocks through Bering Straits, making for the islands. The islands themselves are leased to American merchants. But as those seals killed on the way are all just about to bring forth young, the waste and cruelty of this "pelagic sealing" will be easily understood. On the islands, or 'rookeries", the males, mothers, and pups remain till August, when the pups take to the water. The male seals have remained for at least two months, incessantly fighting and watching, without taking any food. By that time they are quite exhausted, the fat which they laid up previously being all absorbed. The fur has not naturally either the color or texture which art gives it. The outer fur is long and course, and only the inner fur of the exquisite texture of the "made" skin. The former is removed, and the latter dyed to the rich brown color which we see. the fur-seals are steadily diminishing, and each year's catch is smaller than that of the year before.
The CAPE FUR-SEAL, SOUTHERN FUR-SEAL, and NEW ZEALAND FUR-SEAL are practically extinct for commercial purposes.
THE HAIR-SEALS
Among these are the large so-called :sea-lions" of Patagonia and the North Pacific. We are familiar with their appearance, because for many years specimens have been kept at the Zoological Gardens. Their habits are much the same as those of the fur-seals. The principal species are, in the north, STELLER'S SEA-LION, and the PATAGONIAN SEA-LION in the . Those kept at the Zoological gardens are usually of the latter species.
SEA-LION is already on he road to extinction. When the annual catch of fur-seals reached 100,000 a year, the total number of these northern sea-lions was estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000. They repair every year to the Pribyloff Islands to breed, as the fur-seals do, but are shier and more entirely aquatic. The fur of the old males is tawny, and makes a kind of mane over the shoulders, whence its name. Off San Francisco there is a small rocky island, one of the ancient "rookeries" of these sea-lions, where they are carefully preserved by the United States Government as one of the sights of the bay. Another favorite haunt in old days was on the Farralone Islands, thirty miles from the bay.
Southwards, towards the Antarctic, on the desolate and uninhabited coasts and islets of the Far Southern Ocean, the most characteristic of the fauna still remaining are the sea-lions. Formerly they swarmed in great packs, crowding past the breeding-season the seaweed-covered rocks with their huge and unwieldy forms, and at other times cruising in uncouth and noisy companies in search of the fishes and squids, which they pursued like packs of ocean wolves. In spring the sea-lions used to struggle on to the flat shore, where the equally aquatic tribes of penguin, which had lost the use of their wings, covered acre after acre of rock with their eggs and young. These se-lions devoured. When the men of the first exploring-ships visited the penguins' nurseries, all the ungainly birds began to hop inland, evidently taking the men for seals, and thinking it best to draw them as far from heir native element as possible. But the eared seals can make good progress of a kind on land. When Captain Musgrave and his crew were cast away for twenty months on the Auckland islands, they found their tracks on the top of a hill four miles from the water. captain Musgrave also saw the mother seals teaching their puppies to swim; they were by no means inclined to o this, and were afraid of the water- fairly clear presumptive evidence that seals have only recently, so far as natural time is counted, taken to the aquatic life., and modified their form so profoundly as they have.
The PATAGONIAN SEA-LION is perhaps the most numerous species, though its numbers have been greatly reduced by whalers in search of skins and oil. The first sea-lion ever brought here was one of these. The Zoological Society did not import it; they found it in the possession of a Frenchman called lecomte, who had tan it on the Patagonian coast, trained it, and brought it home, where he showed it in a caravan. Its training was long and difficult; it bit like a bull-dog, and Lecomte's limbs were scarred all over with bites. In spite of this it was the cleverest performing animal ever seen up to that time in England. This sea-lion died from swallowing a fish-hook concealed in some fish with which it was fed. Lecomte was then sent out by the Zoological Society to obtain some more. With the greatest difficulty several were secured, but all died on the voyage to new York. Lecomte returned and obtained others, one of which he succeeded in bringing here. The cleverness of these animals- or rather their power of understanding what they they are required to do, and their willingness to do it- probably exceeds that of any other animal, except the elephant and the dog. Why this is so is not easy to conjecture, except that the brain is more developed. They have been taught to fetch and carry on dry land like a retriever, in addition to the well-known tricks exhibited by those at the Zoo. One belonging to Barnum's Show caught strawberry-punnets on its nose when they were thrown to it, and waved a torch, which it held in its teeth and caught after tossing it into the air.
The sea-lions are much more powerful animals than the fur-seals. The male of Steller's sea-lion attains a length of 10 feet and a weight of 1000 lbs. The AUSTRALIAN SEA-LION is even larger than that of the North pacific. Some specimens are said to attain 12 feet in length. Captain Cook mentions seeing male Patagonian sea-lions 14 feet long and from 8 to 10 feet in circumference. Though none are now seen of such dimensions, skulls found on the beach show that anciently some of the sea-lions were larger than any now known.
It should bnoted that all these creatures are carnivorous, yet the supply of food for them never seems to fail, as undoubtedly it would were the animals dependent for their food on land.
THE WALRUS
The distinguishing features of the walrus have been mentioned in the introductory remarks of this chapter. It should be added that it has an external ear-passage, though no external ears, and very thick and bristly whiskers. It is practically confined to the Arctic Circle, though its range extended to the British coasts (where its bones are found in the Suffolk Crag) and to Virginia. The skull of one was found in the peat at Ely- evidence that it once ascended rivers.
The walrus stands alone; it is a real monster of the deep. Strange and awful stories were told of it by some of the early voyagers to the Arctic Seas; but Captain Cook gave a very different account of his impressions of the walruses which he saw on the north coast of America: "They lie just like a lot of pigs in a yard.) They roar and bray so very loud, that in the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicintiy of the ice before we could see it. We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always on the watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would awaken those next to them; and the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would awake presently. But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had been fired once at; they would then tumble over one another into the sea at the utmost confusion. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous animal which authors have described, not even when attacked. vast numbers of them would follow us, and come close up to the boats; but the flash of the musket in the pan, or the bare pointing at it, would send them down in an instant. The female will defend her young to the last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in the water or upon ice; nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead; so that if one be killed the other is certain prey." The long pendant tusks, bristly whiskers, small bloodshot eyes, and a great size lent color to the terrifying tales of the walrus. But more ancient voyagers than Captain Cook told the truth- that the "morses", as they called them, were harmless creatures, which often followed ships from sheep curiosity. they sleep on the ice like elephantine pigs, and dive and rout on the sea-bottom for clams, cuttle-fish, and seaweeds. probably the long tusks are used to rake up mussels and clams; they also help the walrus to climb on to the ice. A young walrus was kept for some time by the members of the Jackson- Harmsworth Expedition, and was found to be an amusing pet. One kept on board a Dundeewhaler used to sleep with an Eskimo dog, and got into the same kennel with it. It ate blubber and salt pork, but liked the sailor's pea soup better than anything else; it was most sociable, and could not bear to be alone- would tumble down the hatchway to seek the society of its beloved sailors, and scramble into the cabin if the door were open. When it fell ill and before it died, it seemed most grateful for any attention shown to it. The parent walrus shows great courage in trying to defend the young one. Walruses are now scarce; but as the ivory is the only part of them of much present value, there is a chance that they may not be killed off entirely.
THE TRUE SEALS
The TRUE SEALS, with their greatly modified forms, heads set almost on to their shoulders, with no neck visible, have well-developed claws on all the toes, and in the typical species have double-rooted and small cheek teeth. The number of the incisors is variable. The GRAY SEAL of the North Atlantic is a large species which visits the North British coasts and the Hebrides. One old male shot off the coast of Connemara weighed nearly 400 lbs., and was 8 feet long. It is found off Scandinavia and eastwards to the coast of Greenland, and breeds off our coasts in October and November. This is the large seal occasionally shot up Scotch lochs. Its color yellowish gray, varied with blots and patches of dirty black and brown.
THE COMMON SEAL
This seal is smaller than the preceding. It breeds on parts of the Welsh and Cornish coasts, and is found on both sides of the Atlantic and in the North Pacific. It assembles in small herds, and frequents lochs, estuaries, and river mouths. In the summer it is fond of following flounders and sea-trout up rivers. A few years ago one came up the Thames and was shot at Richmond. The young are born in June, and re grayish white. The adults are variously mottled with gray, brown, and black. the fondness of seals for music is proverbial. Macgillivray, the Scotch naturalist, said that in the Hebrides he could bring half a score of them within forty yards of him by a few notes on his flute, when they would swim about with their heads above water like so many black dogs. A seal was captured by the servants of a landowner near Clew Bay, on the west coast of Ireland, and kept tame for four years. It became so attached to the house that, after being carried out to sea three times, it returned on each occasion. the cruel wretches who owned it then blinded it, out of curiosity to see whether it could find its way back sightless. the poor animal died so after eight days.
The common seal is still fairly numerous on the rocky western coasts of the British Islands, though a few old seals, unable to forget their early habits, appear now and then in Morecambe Bay and in the Solway. It is not uncommon off the coasts of Caithness and Sutherland. It also frequents a sand-bank in the Dornoch Firth, though it has been much persecuted there. The common seal is gregarious, while the gray seal usually lives only in pairs, or at most in small companies. Two or three dozen like to lie closely packed on shore with all their heads turning seawards. The white hair of the young seals- which, as already said, are born in June- is shed in a day or two, when the young take to the water. With regard to their reputed musical proclivities, some experiments made at the Zoological Gardens did not bear out this belief; but there is much evidence that in state of nature they will approach and listen to music. The common seal has a large brain capacity, and is very intelligent creature. The upper parts of this ear are yellowish gray, spotted with black and brown, the upper parts being silver-gray.
The HARP-SEAL is an Arctic or ice-seal which sometimes finds its way here. The young are born on ice-floes. It is found in great herds in Davis Straits, on the coasts of Greenland and in the greater part of the frozen Arctic Ocean. It is the animal which the sealing-vessels which hunt seals for oil and "hair"- that is, the leather of the skins, not the fur- seek and destroy. In the old days they could be seen in tens of thousands blackening square miles of ice. they are still so numerous that in Danish Greenland more than 30,000 are taken each year. The RINGED SEAL is a small variety, not more than 3 or 4 feet in length, found in great numbers in the Far North. Its flesh is the main food of the eskimo, and its skin the clothing of the Greenlanders. The seals make breathing-holes in the ice. There the eskimo waits with uplifted spear for hours at a time, until the seal comes up to breathe, when it is harpooned. The BLADDER-NOSED DEAL is a large spotted variety, with a curious bladder-like crest on the head and nose of the male. Unlike all other seals, it sometimes resists the hunters and attacks the Eskimo in their kayaks.
If any evidence were need of the great destruction which sealing and whaling industry causes, and has caused, among the large marine animals, the case of the ELEPHANT-SEALS ought to carry conviction. These are very large seals, the male of which has a projecting nose like a proboscis. They were formerly found both north and south of the Equator, their main haunts being on the coast of California, and on the islands of the South Pacific and the Antarctic Ocean. They are gigantic compared with the common seals, some of the males being from 16 to 20 feet long. cuttle-fish and seaweed are the principal food of this seal, which was formerly seen in astonishing numbers. The whaling-ships which hunted both these seals and sperm-whales at the same time almost destroyed those which bred on the more accesible coasts, just as the earlier whalers entirely destroyed Stellers' sea-cow, and their modern descendants destroyed the southern right-whales. The elephant-seal is now very scarce, and when one is killed the skin is regarded as something of a curiosity.
In the records of the voyage of the Challenger it is stated that there were still great numbers of the elephant-seals surviving near heard Island, and not a few round the shores of Kerguelen Island. professor Moseley states that on the windward shore of Heard Island "there is an extensive beach, called Long Beach. This was covered with thousands of sea-elephants in the breeding-season; but it is only accessible by land, and then only by crossing two glaciers. No boat can safely land on this shore; consequently men are stationed on the beach, and live there in huts. Their duty is constantly to dive the sea-elephants from this beach into the sea, which they do with whips made out of the hides of the seals themselves. the beasts thus ousted swim off, and often 'haul up', as the term is, upon the accesible beach beyond. In very stormy weather, when they are driven into the sea, they are forced to betake themselves to the sheltered side of the island. Two or three old males, which are called 'beach-masters', hold a beach for themselves and cover it with cows, but allow no other males to haul up. they fight furiously, and one man told me that he had seen an old male take a young one up in his teeth and throw him over, lifting him in the air. The males show fight when whipped, and are with great difficulty driven into the sea. The females give birth to their young soon after their arrival. The new-born young ones are almost black, unlike the adults, which are of a light slate-brown. They are suckled by the female for some time, and then left to themselves. lying on the beach, where they seem to grow fat without further feeding.
Formerly, the elephant-seals were found as far north as the Californian coast, where their capture was the main business of the sealing-traders. This species also formed the mainstay of the far southern sealers. As the elephant-seals were killed off, so the business became less and less profitable.
Two species-namely, the COMMON SEAL and GRAY SEAL- still regularly visit our shores. The common seal breeds on our southwestern coasts, and the gray seal off the Hebrides. If the common seal were accorded a close time, its numbers would probably increase; and the spectacle of such interesting creatures visible on our coast could not fail to be of great interest. All the legends of mermaids and wildmen of the sea are based on the capture of seals. perhaps the most ancient is one which records such a capture in the river near the Oxford castle, in Suffolk, in the reign of henry II. The ignorant soldiers were persuaded that it was a man, and tortured it to make it speak. Then they took it the church, and showed it sacred emblems. As it "showed no reverence", they took it back to the castle, and fed it on fish. It was allowed to go into the river, but returned to its captors on its own accord. Later it swam away to the sea. The monk who recorded the story stated his conviction that this seal was an evil spirit which had got into the body of a drowned sailor. A gray was taken not many years ago in the creek leading up to the little town of Wells, in Norfolk. it was so tame that the fishermen caught it by throwing coats over it as it lay on the mud.
