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292
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THE SEAS
sheries, which passed into the hands of the United States
of America through the sale of Alaska by the Russians,
_
are now controlled by the American Bureau of Fisheries. '
Killing is conried only to three year old males and a large
number of this class are conserved for breeding purposes.
'
When the seals are all assembled on the land for breeding
each male gathers round him a harem, averaging about
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thirty wives (Plate 104); When all the harems are collected
the remaining superuous males or bachelors are kept
away from the breeding grounds by the mamied males
,
and so can be»easily herded together and driven off to the
_
killing gtounds by the sealers.
The killing grounds are
situated some distance _from the breeding area so as to
prevent disturbance there.
When the seals have been
chosen for slaughter they are knocked unconscious by a
.
_
blow on the head with a heavy “club and rapidly bleed to
death while in this
_
Towards the end of the nineteenth century these seal
-
herds ran -great_risk of extermination from the practice
of pelagic sealing.
Advantage was taken of the migratbry
habits, of the Seal and, when in the spring the herds were
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returning northwards along the Californian coast, to the
Pribylov Islands, men went out in sailing ships to shoot
'
them;
In this Way great harm was done, for not only
was
there wanton destruction of females, but the death
_
of every Ïe'male meant the death of at least one pup for
future years._
After protracted discussions this “pelagic
_
method.of sealing was prohibited in 1911, and it is Satisfactôry to see that under thecare of the American'Government the latest census "of the
shows a large
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