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' seal-skin jackets are made; the hair-seals are sought for their hides 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.
Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.] [Aberdeen.
SEA-LION.
This photograph shows the dry mane of the sea-lion, a rather uncommon sight, as it rarely remains long enough out of the water for its fur to become absolutely dry.
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 seal-skin jackets are obtained, is, when full grown, between 6 and 7 feet long. The females are only 4 feet or 4½ feet in length. The shoulder of the male is grey, the rest of the body varying between reddish grey and deep black. The female is lighter in colour. 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 possession of the females almost immediately after reaching the breeding-grounds, each male collecting as many females as it can round it. The pups keep with their mothers. This assemblage is surrounded by great numbers of young male or bachelor seals, which the old males prevent from annexing any of the females. The greatest of all 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 colour or texture which art gives it. The outer fur is long and coarse, 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 colour 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.