Article: Dive dry with dr. Bill # 567: That's a lot of bull

[drbill]

You can view the page at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/content.php?r=714-Dive-dry-with-dr-Bill-567-That-s-a-lot-of-bull

 

[Akimbo]

This brings up an interesting question. I wonder how the economics worked that made them get that close to extinction. You would think that as an animal becomes rarer and the distance from shore decreases in the “harvest” (for lack of a better term) would get so low it wouldn’t pay to keep looking.

Were these hunters organized for that purpose alone like whalers, or did they include average fisherman who hunted them when they stumbled onto one? Do you suppose there was a market for the meat as well as the oil and fur?

Unlike whales, it didn’t take much investment to kill even the largest of these animals — onshore anyway. But did the typical fisherman have the ability to harvest and process the oil before it spoiled? It would take a lot to get a carcass this size back into the water so you could tow it behind a row-boat for processing at your outpost or village.

Obviously they figured it out since the current population seems to be descendants of only 20 survivors. Thanks for the thought provoking article.

 

[drbill]

There were dedicated sealers that hunted both the elephant seal and the smaller sea lions along our coast.

By the way, you can view the Piedras Blancas populatrion through the Friends of the Elephant Seal web cam at:

EsealCam