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Story: Sealing

Clubbing seals

Image
Clubbing seals

Although this etching was intended to illustrate the story of a castaway on Auckland Islands in the 1860s, it also shows how sealers clubbed seals. The Auckland Islands had been a favourite haunt for sealers earlier in the century.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-K 662-221

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Sealing – The sealers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6243/clubbing-seals (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.