Victor B. Scheffer (1906–2011)

This is an older book whose pages have started to come out now that I have read it but I have been lucky. When I first moved to the state that I am living in I had the blessing to come across both "The Year of the Seal" and "The Year of the Whale" but I never got around to reading them while now I can say that I have.

"The Year of the Seal" was actually the best but then again there isn't mush estimating as to what a seal pup may go through, especially when he starts off land-bound. Victor seemed to have a bit of a problem with pulling off the Little Calf thus made the story seem repetitive. Many days may seem to be to us but we are talking a massive world that is under the sea.

There was also one month that almost didn't touch on the Little but went into detail the whaling operation. All in all I wanted to rage and cry at the way these whales were being treated although taking a look at the index proved many of these events fictional but some could have been actually done in real life.

For the one who is curious into learning about animals while getting a nice mix of actual fact combined I would recommend these books. The reading isn't too heavy at least in the story part while you can relate with some of the events whether seal or whale. And in the case of this there are some interesting pics at the beginning of each chapter.

Due to the book's age and the continuing march of scientific progress I would suggest reading it with a grain of salt. Some things may have been answered, some new information may have come to light and of course some information may have been disproven. Just enjoy the book for its value....… (mehr)

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This is an interesting although somewhat outdated book about the Alaskan fur seal.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....… (mehr)

A companion book to The Year of the Whale, The Year of the Seal describes the life of an Alaskan fur-seal and its companions. Most of the book tells about one female seal, and what she does from day to day in the different seasons; she comes to land to breed and raise a pup, leaves it periodically to go fishing in the ocean, then roams widely through the seas but returns again to land the following year. The story also follows the doings of one of her pups, and a little bit of the adult male or bull seal as well, to show how their habits differ. Interwoven with the seals' lives are the activities of men, and this is where it gets troublesome. There are hunters who "harvest" the seals' skins for their thick warm fur, and biologists who count their numbers and study their behavior. Their main motive for doing so is to determine how many seals can be taken each year without decimating the population. But they also do some studies just (it seems) for knowledge' sake. The seals suffer and die of natural causes as well as by the hands of men. It's all quite brutal. And yet the seals are full of life, apparently vigorous and healthy, and there are many passages beautifully describing their grace in the water, their speed and agility chasing fish, the quiet and tender moments between mother and pup, etc.

from the Dogear Diary… (mehr)