The Year of the Seal

by Victor B. Sheffer

The author of The Year of the Whale takes us along for a year-long exploration of the life cycle of a much-loved and much-threatened wild creature, the Alaskan fur seal.

Genres: Natural History

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Linda Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this again recently and changed the rating. Having lived on Saint Paul Island in the Pribiloffs for seven years until retirement, my appreciation for this story has grown more sensitive. During that time, I was invited by the Aleut local tribe to attend the only legalized fur seal taking. The meat was shared within the tribe for food, and the fur was used for clothing. My gratitude and love for the people of the island has no bounds.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

rating: 3.5

Technically, this is fiction. Scheffer follows the life of an Alaska fur seal for one year -- from the time she gives birth to a pup on one of the Pribilof Islands to the next year when she again gives birth. This particular seal never existed. Rather, Scheffer uses her to describe the life and behaviors of fur seals, intertwining the tale with the research of the times and the seals' interactions with other marine life.

In the Preface, Scheffer explains that his goal is to tell about the life of a seal over an "ordinary" year, while relaying "the central message that humans are richer for sharing a world with seals." After reading that, I knew that I'd like the story (and the author).

The slaughter of seals for the fur trade is always a painful topic, but I didn't realize how many seals were slaughtered for the sake of science. That's appalling! I understand the need to gather data, but did the men (no women scientists are mentioned) consider other ways to proceed without so much killing? I wonder if that still happens today. For a while, I considered field research as a career, but there's no way I would have killed the subjects of my study. (So I would have been a failure?) This reminds me of how artists and scientists ruthlessly killed birds to paint and study. So sad.

On pp 131-132, Scheffer devotes a few paragraphs to the Fur Seal Treaty of 1957. He points out that ...
The voice of the biologist unfortunately is weak and in the final conference is often lost in the clamor of the officials and in the politicians.

My heart took a leap when I read a statement echoing my own belief:
Unless for compelling reasons, men do not have the right to make decisions which future men cannot reverse.

I think that's such an important statement, especially in this day and age, that I'm going to restate it in slightly different words:

We do not have the right to make decisions about the natural world which cannot be reversed.

This is true whether we're talking about plant or animal life, an ecosystem, geological formations, or just about any other natural feature. Once something's gone, it's gone forever. We don't have the luxury of saying, "Oops, I made a mistake, let's try that again."

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that I had laying around and even though I started on the book I would get distracted by another. Luckily I chose to read this book for the Reading Challenge 2015 as a book owned but never read.

This is an interesting although somewhat outdated book about the Alaskan fur seal. The author does a majestic job of weaving you into the story of not only the year for the Golden Seal, a breeding female, but also into the lives of some of her peers. While reading through each month you are also introduced into glimpses of the lives of others such as the bull that impregnated her with her second pup, young seals captured in the rookery for human experiments, her wandering first year pup when he leaves Tolstoi and so many more creatures.

And twisting around all this are the acts both good and bad of man towards this creature. You see the devastation, the cruel necessity of learning, the needless slaughter and torment. There is a chance to see the past of man slowly fading as they give way to the newer times and of course the pompous officials always arguing but never getting around.

This book was beautifully written with enough facts to educate but presented in such a way that you aren't flooded over by the non-fiction. At the same time he is careful and detailed around his writing so you are taken to the home of the fur seal both when land-bound and in the sea.

What made me enjoy the book so much more was also the emotional depth even though the creature wasn't given much of emotional depth. It is nostalgic, primitive and yet hauntingly lovely. It made me cringe and anger at stupid killings of so much animals in the name of science as well as for management needs and fur. This book is an eye-opener whether good or bad is up to you....

~A Book You Own But Have Never Read~

[Bibliobites Veronica]

Interesting, and I did learn a lot about seals that I didn’t know before. However, I was hoping to be able to give this to one of my (homeschooled) students, but I don’t think the unnecessary violence against seals by scientists would be appreciated. Too bad. I wonder if his Whale title is any better?

I do always enjoy Fisher’s illustrations.

[Douglas Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as powerful as his companion work "The Year of the Whale" but interesting none the less. It follows the same format as his whale book, alternating fictional story about one seal with factual biology about seals.

[Greg Gav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal and clear.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful