Translation 2783

..... 97
and squids in their diet in the Sea of Okhotsl.. In all-the ar.•eas
inhabited by fur seals S'a1-mOnida@ form a very small percenta;;e of
their food.. Pur seals are fattest in sprin{; aiid lèanest in autumn.
Fur seals are fairly lon^-lived, .ir:clividua.ls 30 years old
and older often being ob::erved. Ainorij natur^al enemies, killer whales
and sliarlc r, inflict r,om,. 7.oN.,,es on them.
The, highest rate of mortality is observed durinc, tilc:ir first
t12'.-cc: year;, of li.fe. :.,urin,; the first two rllOlltll;, after bi.rtli losseu
of pull;:, from var9.ou,j causes ^st:t.:l.1-bi.r•thc,, cru: il:Lri;! by n.clu].•L:., tuicinariosi.>
and d,ysenter.y caused by the parasites Uncinaria 7.ucasi and.
Salmonella -enteritidis) a.r:lount to 17;:. iie.ny pu_is e.l,3o die in the
sea, esnecially in wirlter duringo, sovere storms. It is be].iëved tilatdeaths
among animals of other age &,^roups take place mainly during
the ocean-dwelli_n,,,^ period of their lives.
Another cause of ulortaliLy
may be serious di:;ea.,es produced by helm:i.rltl-is, which have bec:i found
in great numbers in the ses,ls' internal ort^ans; -rwenty û?;ecies of
helminthic parasites have been recorded.
Intensive exploitation of fur sea1.:> in Cho Oea be(;ar,
ti•ritL the or:,.;anizatiorl of the "f.usso --AL'lerican Company„ in 1700. As
long as that ^GlCUÜI; iiy
^'•l.i.: ti.d • (ui:t1.1 I -b r) til•.^. c.'.ii.^i,t of 1:'.,'irl t
bordered on indi.scrimâ.nate s• laut;iiter of tua fur seal stoc _s. i'roln
17;i9 to 1867 more. tl-lan two-and--a--tialf million fur seals were killed
in the :,:omai:dorsl-.ie and j: rib,ylov Islands,. ï roin 1^'. -i2 to 1116-7 i^27, 41-00
hides were e;;ported., ineludinL, 54., }CO from the K.o.;ler clors,cie Islands.
In 1E?67, as a result of the sale of Alas'ta, tlie husso-- âinerican Col:r--
pr?ny was wound up, and u),til 167-1 tl:e tab.inC, of fur c;ealti on the
I'oraa.ndorskie Islands was unor;;rr.nized -- during three years 64, 3u0
were killed tllerc, and 351,000 on the l,ribylov Island:, .
Data on the
takint; of fur seals in subsequent years are t;iveti in Yable £3.•
Vor the next 20 years the fur seal induntry was leased to a
new American coill])a1'ly, and duririC that period more i;,.ail 740,000 of
the c.nimal;7. ware ):i.llc;d or, the ;:oriandor, kie l"lanci , and more than
2, 700, l)00 on the Pribyl.ov I.sliilids. 1?rol~I 1(.91 to 19u1 the ts.l;in ; of 67
îur uc;alc.i on the Kolnarlclo:c:.iki.e ):: ► larrdc.i and '.t',Y111.011ii lslalici ara:, i,