Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/135

Rh Straits and Baffin Bay" (P.Z.S., 1868, pp. 533–556). Both papers, in revised form, in Arctic Manual and Instructions, 1875.)

Four species of seals are known to inhabit Antarctic seas. The first concrete accounts of these animals were brought back by Weddell, D'Urville, Wilkes, and Ross. But it was not until after the departure of the Scottish Expedition in 1892 that much was known about them. The best known and most widely distributed is the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddelli) which is found on, or near, all Antarctic shores. The least known is the Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossi); this is the rarest true seal in the world. Very few of these have ever been seen, and not many occur in collections. The other two species are the Crab-eating or White Antarctic seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) and the Sea-leopard seal (Stenorhyncus leptonyx). The latter is a very remarkable seal, noted for its litheness and swiftness. It chases, catches, and feeds on penguins in the sea. Mr. Wilton, of the Scotia, records that "a sea-leopard was observed to catch a black-throated penguin by the leg and haul him down in the water."

Another true seal occasionally penetrates the pack, but is really an inhabitant of subantarctic lands and seas: this is the Great Sea-elephant seal (Macrorhinus leoninus), the male of which measures about twenty feet in length.