Translation 2783

154
The fur is dense, - soft, and silky, and covers the whole body .
of the animal except the nose, the inner surface of the ears, the
margins of the lips, and the pads of the fore-paws. The halr is •
differentiated into guard-nairs and underfur, and is densest on the
belly. • The general colour varies from almost rusty to black, being
mostly dark-brown. The head, neck, chest, and belly - are somewhat
lighter-coloured, brownish-grey. specimens aro occasionally found
that are partly or wholly albino, and others that are melanistic, or '
perfectly black. As the animals grow older their colour deepens from
the rusty-brOwn or light-cinnamon-brown of the new,-born to dark-brown
in yearlings and adults. There are no differences-in . colour between
males and females.
•
Sea otters are medium-sized animals. T.he maximum body length
of adult males is 150 cm, the tail being 36 cm long; the corresponding
figures for adult females are 150 cm and 32 cm. The body weight of
males,is up to 42 kg, and that of females up to 56 kg. New-born young
have a total length, including the tail, of about55-60 cm and a weight
of 1.5-2.0 kg; when six months old their length is• 110-115 cm and their
weight 10-11 kg; yearlings are 125-135 cm long and weigh - 17-19 kg.
. . Until intensive hunting of them began in the 19th century sea.
otters were found on the islands of.northern japan and the.northernmost
parts of the Asiatic and American coasts of the - Bering. Sea,•and
were fairly - plentiful on the coasts of Kamchatka and in the Aleutian
Islands, 'the Fribylov Islands, and western Alaska.
Although their present'range includes -Lin Asiatic and _American
coasts of the northern part of the Facific Ocean, tneir distribution
within it is patchy. sea otters live in the 1:urile islands•(Urup
Island is the southernmost point where they have been observed; they
are also founCI on the islands of Paramushir, Onekotan, Antsiferova,
shashkova, -. Rasshua, simushir, etc.), at the soutn6rn ti2 of the ,
i_amchatka peninsula (Capes Irya, 2heltyi, inakanyush, etc.),• and on
the i:omandorskie Islands (ilednyi and
on -the AMerican side
sea otters are common on almost all tue islands o the Aleutian chain
(hat Islands, Andreanov Islands, - Delarov islands, etc.); along the
northwest coast of Alaska tndy are not found neyond A.tak n.nd .Knudyakov
Islands, but on the southeast coast of iineninsula tney oceur
on the islands of Mlump•ina, nodiak, › i\fonnaL, and ()thorn as 1.'ar as