Return from Near Extinction
Before the age of gallant explorers, men were drawn to Antarctic waters for commercial gain. The first to chart these waters (and keep the best islands to themselves) were sealers, hunting the Antarctic Fur Seal. On land, the clumsy animals could be clubbed to death and skinned on the spot. The skins brought a handsome profit in China. From around 1790 to 1820 this industry almost wiped out the southern fur seal. Elephant seals were also hunted for their blubber which yielded a high-quality lubricating oil.
The fur seal was considered extinct by the middle of the19th century, but a small population survived on Bird Island, near South Georgia Island. From that colony the species (now protected) has repopulated the southern islands and is now estimated to be about 1.5 million strong.
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Seals on land are not very active. None of them were clapping their flippers or playing arrays of toy horns. Mostly they were sleeping or digesting their last meal. |
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Occasionally they would interact |
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But mostly, like these Elephant Seals, they just lay there. Some, like the one in the
background were molting. One fur seal saw some of us lying on his beach and decided to chase us away. He changed his mind when we stood up and were much taller than him. |
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During a Zodiac excursion among the icebergs, Marie came
upon these leopard seals. They are aggressive and bite fish,
penguins, other seals, scuba divers, and sometimes even Zodiacs. Their only predator is the Killer Whale (Orca.) |
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We were told that these blobs were Elephant Seals, the
largest species of seal. We were advised to keep a reasonable
distance away. These seals at Yankee Harbor may have been Weddell Seals, but we were never able to check. |