United States or Saint Barthélemy ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Narrow squeeze. Wanted to get a photograph of one of the biggest sea-catches I had ever seen. Took a heavy camera. The sea-catch didn't seem excited. Not particularly. So, I came up quite close to him." "How close, Mr. Nagge?" "Ten or twelve feet. Just about. I got under the cloth. Focused him all right. Then slipped in my plate. Just going to press the bulb when he charged. Straight for me.
Sometimes, though, it is impossible for the holluschickie to get to the sea without having to cross the rough, rocky ground which is suitable for a rookery." "How can they work it, then?" "The sea-catches leave a road eight feet wide, no more, no less. This path through the rookery gives just room for two holluschickie to pass.
The big 'bull' seals are sometimes called 'Sea-Catches' or 'Beachmasters. The two-year-olds and three-year-olds are called 'Bachelors. The 'pups, too, have their 'nurseries' to play in." But Colin still looked puzzled. "Our gunner was talking about 'holluschickie'?" he said. "Are those a different kind of seal?" "No," was the reply, "that's the old Russian-native name for bachelors.
Let's go to the hauling-grounds." "Is that where the killing goes on?" the boy asked. "Not quite," was the reply. "The road to the killing-grounds begins there, though. Naturally! We don't take any seals from a rookery." "Why not?" "No use! They are all either old bulls, females, or pups," was the answer. "The fur of the old sea-catches is coarse. Couldn't sell it.
Those beachmasters who have harems nearest the water want their family first and there's fighting all along the water's edge, then. Other cows have to make their way inshore; any of the sea-catches may grab them. Wait a minute and watch. You'll see the scramble going on somewhere.
And over the thousands of silver-gray cow seals, the sea-catches, the lords of the harem, three or four times the size of their mates, stood watch and ward unceasingly. "Why do you herd them so close together?" asked Colin. "I should have thought there was lots of room on the beaches of the island." "They herd themselves," the agent said. "Don't go anywhere unless it is crowded.
The bachelors, which are young male seals five years old and under, leave the rookery alone. The old sea-catches look after that. Certainly! It is mutilation or death for a holluschickie to put so much as a flipper on a rookery. They seldom try. Therefore, the hauling-grounds are at a distance. Obviously!
This plate was recovered, although the photographer was drowned on the treacherous shores of the Pribilof Islands the very day the picture was taken. "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.
Word Of The Day