December 10 – Seals, Pribilof Islands

D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Professor of Biology at University College, Dundee from 1884 and Professor of Natural History at St Andrews from 1917, served as Scientific Advisor to the British Delegation of the Bering Sea Fur Seal Commission.

During the period 1896-1897 he joined two expeditions to the Bering Sea, including visits to the Pribilof Islands. This Commission was set-up to investigate disputes between Great Britain and the United States over the fur seal industry. The later North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 restricted pelagic seal hunting in the area.

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