The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 30, 1899, Page 17

v 0000000000000 000 j?ém{y to Ohin Qut the e Seal Rocks Wil Be SAllowed 2 as a fie,f}gge for a Jew of Zoléem, the Othors %}zzfl‘ So or Dre. ': o ¥ ’.',;’.‘1’.“.’-‘0"0‘3.}5;0‘3.}5‘.‘.‘5:5999009000900000903 TION THE VERNMENT ASKING PERMISSION TO KILL SEALS ALONG ~ THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO, s « e irn a most serious g s the F 1 CAl H Alexander T. Vogels Falll < t s s 3 5 > & fegeReReRegeoRaFePePeFeReFeRaoFaFat , v PART OF THE SEAL-BREEDING GROUP ON THE FARALLON ISLANDS. Photo by Dr. A. Genthe, ost remarkable and inter- missioners that they should m disturbance there. The popt the ation verdict has alwaye been that the sea New Y u: 1 Rocks is but lion destroys enor 00000Q00OL GQOOGGOOOOQ":OOCO‘.’:0000000000Q0000000000000000000000000000 ke any ported over and over again, and the Reyes, Point Arena and Ano Nuevo, or There {s no. question that if the sea s Point, quantities of Mateo County shore, duri 0; 0000L000000000000000000000000000000000000C000000000 00090 wlifornia Sea Lions. eCOee00 IN00 00000000000000000000000000_9000309000000090000000000 000000000 belly and throwing the rest of the fish are no longer clumsy In the watef. Only now and then can one be There is enormous power in the mus- . but a deputy commissioner states ¢leS of their flippers and talls, and this and the build hodies gea lion in the Sacramento River play- the boili d rocks . | ing with a s : mouse. He w He would stick his head above wate toss the fish high in the air to cne side, dive and catch the fish in his mouth when it came down. The last time the fish c ise and the lion Pointé o the coa just held his mouth open and let it sunty, in 1897 durin shoot down his throat. season, sa great sche o betwe n like a cat with a they clim evidently not, hungry. and swift in fish of the dextrous speedlest but they cans and r for The ne down end animals are rarely observed throush a channel it 1s circumstantial evidence that is IOCKY islands the sca lions populated. largely relied upon by the salmon oo lunced Slhids fishers. This is presented in part by ekl Al their nets. Nets costing from $100 to their habit of $400 are constantly found destroyed. taking a bite out «f each fish they lions find a net full of fish caught, and later the water was cov- atin life of the sea lion is es- nd it is this fam- d to be invaded wturally presume that the provi- dence which vided them took the trouble to catch The fam pecially in ily life th them. When the big dinner With powder, ball and steel. It s not nets are gone too, <o fine and syst on the breeding 1dly curse the sea lor grounds as that f al, but it is quite simil: opens with th the s the best- rterest arly known genus otariida They are of the knQwn as empt territor The battles ar; even the vict torn into strips The defeated one g0 elsewhere. Dr his mainly these the The breeding and the masters about to install ther go without ferocious, and nuch hide and four of the f hair seal has no soft fur und coarse, hard, hairy covering, and is of small economic importance. For this reason largely the sea lions have never been carefully studied by scientists, and indeed it is only in quite recen vears that the fur seal has been so udied. The sea lion occurs throughout the Pacific Coast from Cape Horn to Bering of maternal care Sea and along the Asiatic Coast. The and even the male well-known California sea lion has been young. The mothers g0 o begins in harems are es now. These r a month or fat. Then the 1 and nur riking degre is exhibited ach the - food, observed and written about more than nurse their your A ead them any other species, mainly because it into the 1 The moth will hold has been more convenient to those who its pup’s nose ahove w i s first cared to observe sea lions. Because it lessons at sw ing, will play with has been a more convenient victim of it in the water, tak it now & capture it has also been the one gen- by the nape of the erally exhibited in zoological gardens it, to carefully catch it wt everywhere and there studied and pic- and will go away from tured. It is the California sea 1 float on the surface with has been exhibited at Central Park, on its breast. at the zoological gardens If ‘the sea :Hon Philadelphia and other Eastern cities, there would be and in the zoological collections of termination. He Paris, London and other capital: once rs ite man began The California sea lion occurs from a it when he e. The prizes point southward variously placed at were the coarse hides and the fat for Lower California and the Mex ofl for domestic markets and the coast to half way to Bering Se As whiskers and some other small parts large and magnificent as is the Califor- of the cz s for the Chinese market lion, he is smaller than the They were slain by the thousands up that populates the northern re- to ten or fifteen v, ago all along the lly the Pribylof and coast, from Lower California th, here his importance Then the market for the hides and oil he fur seal. It is re- passed away and the whiskers, etc., lions permanently for the Chinese market would not pay worth hunting for officlal ex- orth hunting that 20,000 s bit the rlof Islands. All sea for the trouble and expense of killing 3 display a considerable range of them. This he legal restrictions vellowish or reddish brown color and have given = chanice. The ibitions were not to The regulation Islands are given as the southern limit was made bec he hunters of sea at which the northern sea lon occurs, lions, gulls’ egzs, etc., at the Farallones an llon is a luxury he is a costly one. He 554 jeeds so that the two species min- and on other reservations got up such g the breed- eats an incredible amount of fish. Years gje here somewhat. bloody wars and stole, wrecked or in- the 1 ——— the size of the female. The Farallon protect the ale is always of two to three times Government down on the s I :»"l‘-"",“-yfiu?;p-.‘.:lh"J\( 'v‘“ g o fribe in fish, serlously interferes, with the fishs ing season and kill the animals'in large ‘ago two sea dions were long in:captiyily : “;While the Californis sedTion! inthe jteiferediwith ;sa) mouch Government he ( ils neig L5 As ilar knowl- ing industry hereabouts, especially the numbers. at Woodward's Gardens, and each predominating species at the California property and so much Government ige of the sea lion is mainly derived salmon industry, and that his number A petition, indorsed by Senator Per- would eat from forty to fifty pounds Seal resorts, there are others, and the business that the thing was a nuisance f om these little points of rock this is should be lessened. But the sea lion has kins, as - ;: s 2 and wisdom of the measure be taken. There are never few dozen or a few s their cousins out there, within thirty or forty miles the any thousands Whatever aughter, there will still be s look aBfrom the cliff balcony For twenty or thirty years the fish- ies, including the main population, are gregated. about to tion has died without result. and Pre ore than a Since 1566 there has been a State law which prohibits molesting these ani- permission will b the CIiff House or within one mile of g ® the lions to along the Iis photographs ar rld by the hundreds of thousanc i hardly any traveler has seen jclsco in decades without having the seals” at the ( anta Cruz coast. It happens breeding season House. 1 Rocks at the Cliff T v boiling surf about them are not prg ed in king for this permi 't realized and neither is the need been protected by law, and each agita- sent to Secretary Gag. ident Vogelsa ion is qu e confident that the Their population along the middle coast breeding seasons, and sin. granted. If the Gov- of the State can be only guessed at. extermination a few straj mals within a mile of the beach about ernment does not hesitate too long, but Commi es its early consent, the slaughter 25 shore for a distance of ten miles will commence next month, when the 10,000 sea lions eating fifty pounds of is fairly begun and fish a &ay would consume 500,000 pounds that outside of these limits the rooker- the greatest number of seals have con- daily. The habit of the animal, how- These other species have their stories, be all right and there would be many ermen generally, and the salmon pack- on Government lighthouse - or other The exact method to be pursued has he géts about full, take a bite out of character at present,. and when Dr. be made on the mal s of the Sacramento especlally, have reservations, and here a Treasury De- not been determined, but that is a mere each one and throw the rest away. The Jordan put in a plea of guilty in behalf .will, but the purpose n complaining of the sea lions and partment regulation forbids hunting.. detail. Deputies and some hired rifle- estimate must be greatly raised for this of the sea lion as a fish destroyer he herds during the breeding season, and % ving for their destruction This The idea now is to get the permission men may be sent out to do the work, reason. : -r];ne’ “m: the ri.‘lir'ml same agitation has bobbedhup periodi- of the Treasury Department to send and, as is most likely, the work may Each one easily gorges himself and carnage planned. It s not at all nec- cally. Fish Commissions have heard men into the big rookeries on the Far- be done under some sort of a contract then entertains himself with catchin, Al vi essary for the purpose of the Fish Com- delegations, discussed, resolved and re- allon Islands, thlrtz..mgeg &t aéa, Point arranxement with skilled men. more, taking & bite outof the back ai gg:t?d;;h;l“:xsfirggngt&?eo;r?;x ;%ez;; ,‘a?-lel: evvfii‘a“:hrea:gr“&“y;;:gi.the 190 fon, was of o | da%. S When' 1t fs g0¢ ine Aaverage observer will fail to detect the to be abated. It is this fact that gives e o g3 of fish a day. When it is g00d AShiNg gifrerent species. The true fur seal was President Vogelsang confidence that 8 ok ¥, for sea lions thousands of them in and ¢, arjy quite abundant along the Cali- the request of State officers will be g of the Fish about the bay eat that much daily. fornja coast between the Bering Sea granted. its practical If it'is a romantic and picturesque ones are campaign will . be promptly inaugur- estimate of ' Often present here. The spotted or bar- ated. The sea lions will be greatly But ber seal and the gray seal also frequent sened but not exterminated. Pr the California resorts of ihe otaries. Jordan indorses the campaign and says The sea elephant, formerly fairly that if ninety-nine of every hundred abundant, is also an occasional visitor. males were killed the race would still oner Vogelsang's 000 may be wrong either way. ever, is to keep on catching fish when but the California sea lion is the main fish saved. It is said that the war will Probably it s to reduce the acquitted the others. it is possible that some mothers and A good specimen of a bull will weigh pups will accidentally suffer. a ton, and some are judged to reach 3000 President Jordan takes great interest