BOOKMONGER
A crusade to protect seals
This week’s book
Oregon author shines spotlight on early wildlife advocate
Alaska Northwest Books – 228 pp — $17.99
Swashbuckling pirates on the high seas,
international saber-rattling, greedy entrepre-
neurs and a pioneering wildlife advocate all
come bursting to life in a fascinating new
history by Oregon author Deb Vanasse.
“Roar of the Sea” is the true tale of
Henry Wood Elliott, a self-taught artist and
unconventionally schooled naturalist.
As a teenager during the Civil War,
Elliott took up a scientifi c apprenticeship in
Washington, D.C. at the newly-constructed
Smithsonian museum.
After paying his dues by sorting and col-
lecting specimens (and occasionally letting
President Abraham Lincoln up onto the roof
of the Smithsonian Castle’s main tower, the
better to observe the Union Army’s signal-
ing devices), Elliott was eventually sent out
on a series of expeditions to the West Coast,
Wyoming and fi nally to Alaska.
Assigned by the Smithsonian to inves-
tigate the natural history of northern fur
seals, Elliott’s stay amidst the teeming seal
rookeries of Alaska’s Pribilof Islands trans-
formed into a lifetime dedicated to ensur-
ing the seals’ survival. Elliott soon called
for a moratorium on seal harvesting, realiz-
ing that the seal population was plummet-
ing. But this was during a time when, as
Vanasse notes, “maritime wildlife was a lit-
eral free-for-all.”
Elliott’s career path as a conservation-
ist was fraught with frustration and treach-
ery. Seal skins were in great demand, and
commercial seal hunts had been going
on for nearly a century. Ruthless sealers
from around the world competed with one
another for the biggest harvests . Politics,
too, interfered with conservation eff orts.
Vanasse describes how the Russians, Japa-
nese, Canadians, British and Americans all
vied for preeminence and engaged in deceit.
As Elliott pleaded with lawmakers to
consider the long-term eff ects of indis-
criminate seal hunting, his reputation was
smeared and his work denigrated by corpo-
rate interests and politicians.
It took decades for this crusader to
‘Roar of the Sea’ by Deb Vanasse
fi nally secure protections for the seals, and
when he did, it was at great personal cost.
Elliott fought the resistance of tycoons,
presidents and sometimes even corrupt
peers within the scientifi c establishment.
When he fi nally retired to Renton, Wash-
ington, his name was consigned to a histor-
ical footnote. To research this naturalist and
his diligent work, Vanasse scoured archives
from Alaska to Cleveland to Washington,
D.C.
In “Roar of the Sea,” she writes with
verve and dramatic impact, reconstructing
the narrative of Elliott’s tenacious crusade
in a way that will transport the reader back
to the cacophonous seal rookeries, to the
bloody, blubber-slicked decks of the sealing
ships, and to the elegant meeting rooms of
the nation’s capital.
While bringing deserved attention to
Elliott for his wildlife conservation work
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Vanasse ends with a sobering challenge:
‘Roar of the Sea’ is by Deb Vanasse.
those seal rookeries on the Pribilof Islands
are now facing new human-caused threats
— and could use 21st century advocates.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd
McMichael, who writes this weekly column
focusing on the books, authors and publish-
ers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at
Barbaralmcm@gmail.com
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