SEAL SONG

Text by Brian Davies Photographs by Eliot Porter, Allen Lane 1979.

On a clear, cold day in the Spring of 1965, Brian Davies, then an investigator for the New Brunswick SPCA, stepped out onto an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and came face to nose with that beguiling confection of white fur and dark eyes known as the baby harp seal. He was captivated. ‘ By the end of the day I knew that I belonged to the seals, and I decided to learn as much as possible about them.‘ So began the author’s lifetime association with that unique and fascinating species of marine mammal.

In this splendidly illustrated book, Mr. Davies shares the latest research on the natural history of the harp seals – their migratory and behavioural patterns, their breeding and physical characteristics – and contrasts them with the hooded seals that share the ice on which they live. Drawing on his own experiences with the seals - from a hauntingly beautiful underwater visit with the adult seals to an exhausting, hectic, and sometimes very funny stint as nursemaid to two infant ‘whitecoats’ named Jack and Jill, whom he rescued after they had been abandoned – he offers an eyewitness account of the life of the harp seal.

 In the course of his thirteen year involvement with the seals, Mr. Davies has seen many thousands of them. Each one has furthered his determination to ensure the continued existence of this now threatened group of beautiful creatures.

Mr Davies’s commentary and Eliot Porter’s stunning photographs combine to allow the case for the preservation of the species to be argued by it’s most eloquent witnesses, the harp seals themselves. At the time of this book, Brian Davies was employed as Executive Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) where he led the worldwide fight to save the harp seals.

The dust jacket has some rubbing to the extremes and has a few splits and marks with a 2cm split and roll at the lower leading edge. The back of the jacket is also a little grubby (not grimy but not bright). The book is in good condition, save for some minor sunning to the outer edges of the cover boards and a miniscule bump to the leading lower edge. The book was written at the time of the annual ‘cull’ of these beautiful seal pups, in order to provide fur for fashion items. The photographs, mainly in colour, are superb.

The book is quite wide and the scanned image is rotated by 90 degrees to accommodate the book.