Snapshotting an old Beach-Master.
This plate was recovered, although the photographer was drowned on the treacherous shores of the Pribilof Islands the very day the picture was taken.
Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.
"Yearlings of both sexes and males from two years old to five," the agent answered.
"Do they fast all summer, too, like the sea-catches?"
"No," was the reply. "No need for it. They go to sea every few days. If the sun is out they stay in the sea. They make long journeys, too, just as the mother seals have to do, because a seal needs at least thirty pounds of fish a day to keep in good condition. All the nearby fishing-grounds have been exhausted."
"I suppose the different colors show the different ages?" the boy suggested.
"Exactly," the agent answered. "That's important, too. By law we are only allowed to sell skins weighing between five and eight and a half pounds. That means only those of males two and three years old. The skin of a yearling weighs just about four pounds and that of a four-year-old male eleven or twelve."
"How about the two-year-old cow seals? You said that only the yearlings among the females were here."