In Rudyard Kipling’s story “The White Seal,” where does the seal Kotick live?

In Rudyard Kipling’s story “The White Seal,” the seal Kotick lives in the Pribilof Islands.

The Pribilof Islands are a group in the Bering Sea, north of the Aleutian chain and west of mainland Alaska. They became famous for their large northern fur seal colonies, making them an appropriate real-world setting for Kipling’s tale about a young white seal searching for a safe place for his people.

Kotick is unusual because his white coat makes him stand out from the other seals. After witnessing hunters killing seals, he travels widely in search of a refuge. The story combines natural-history details with a fable about persistence, leadership, and protecting a community.

Readers sometimes confuse the Pribilof Islands with the Aleutian Islands because both are in the North Pacific region. The story’s setting is specifically associated with the Pribilof seal rookeries. “The White Seal” was included in The Jungle Book, first published in 1894.