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Species and Behavior
Multiple seal species inhabited northern waters, each with distinct characteristics, behaviors, and uses.
Harbor seals—common, relatively easy to hunt, provided meat and skins regularly used for clothing and boat covering. These were baseline resource, harvested routinely without requiring specialized expeditions.
Ringed seals—smaller, found near ice, created breathing holes through sea ice. In winter, when open water hunting was impossible, ringed seals provided crucial resource. Hunters located breathing holes, waited in extreme cold for hours until seal surfaced, then struck quickly with harpoon before seal could retreat.
Bearded seals—largest northern seals, provided thick hides perfect for boat covering, rope making, boot soles. The meat was tougher but the skin was so valuable that bearded seals were specifically hunted despite difficulty.
Harp seals—migrated in large numbers, hunted during breeding season when they gathered on ice. This seasonal abundance allowed intensive harvesting, with communities preserving meat and skins for year’s use.
Breathing Hole Hunting
Winter seal hunting required patience and endurance. The hunter located breathing holes—keeping multiple holes open in sea ice allowed seals to surface for air without needing to swim long distances. Fresh holes showed as patches of thin ice or small openings, often marked by frost from seal’s breath.
The hunter approached quietly—seals had excellent hearing, any noise sent them fleeing. He positioned himself by promising hole, sometimes building small windbreak from snow blocks, and waited. This waiting could last hours in temperatures far below freezing with wind cutting through clothing. The hunter remained motionless, watching hole, listening for splash or breathing sound indicating seal’s arrival.
When seal surfaced—head emerging into hole to breathe—the hunter struck immediately with harpoon, then hauled seal up through hole before it could escape. The window of opportunity was seconds. Miss the strike and the seal vanished, possibly for hours. Success meant food and warm skin. Failure meant returning empty-handed after half-day of freezing vigil.
Processing and Use
Seal blubber was rendered into oil like whale blubber—though smaller quantity, easier to process, still valuable. Seal meat was eaten fresh or preserved—less rich than whale meat but still nutritious, important protein source.
Seal skin was primary material for waterproof clothing and boat covering. The skin was carefully removed, treated, sometimes with hair left on (for warmth) or removed (for waterproof garments). Seal skin boots were standard footwear—waterproof, flexible, durable. Seal skin parkas kept hunters warm and dry in coastal conditions.
Seal intestines were processed into waterproof material—sewn into parkas, used for rain gear, made into containers. The processing was laborious—cleaning, treating with urine to soften, drying stretched—but the result was translucent, waterproof material unlike anything else available.
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