From preliminary research on the intermixing 

 of seals from American and Asian islands, scien- 

 tists believe that a third or more of the seals 

 found off the coast of Japan in winter and spring 

 come from the Pribilof Islands. The proportion 

 of the eastern Pacific seals that originated on 

 Asian islands has not yet been estimated. Only 1 

 Soviet-tagged seal was taken on the Pribilof 

 Islands before 1960, but 8 were found in 1961 

 and 21 in 1962. More may be expected from 

 the enlarged tagging program begun on Soviet 

 islands in 1958. 



Unless sick or injured, fur seals rarely land 

 from the time they leave their rookery islands in 

 the fall until they return the following spring, 

 summer, or fall. The one known exception is 

 Samalga Island near the west end of Umnak 

 Island where seals, apparently males, have been 

 observed hauled out on a reef. A living pup was 

 born on the Washington coast in early July 1959. 

 Such an occurrence is extremely rare. During 

 some winters, adult females enter West Crawfish 

 Inlet near Sitka, Alaska, to feed on herring to 

 within one-half mile of shore. 



Seals are usually seen 10 to 90 miles offshore 

 and are frequently most abundant between 30 

 and 70 miles. Most people living along coastal 

 areas of the western United States, particularly 

 California, are unaware that many thousands of 

 fur seals feed and rest for several winter months 

 on the nearby ocean. 



The top speed of fur seals in water is not accur- 

 ately known. For short distances they can keep 

 ahead of a ship moving at 10 to 15 miles per 

 hour. They can be overtaken if chased persist- 

 ently by a ship with a speed of only 9 miles per 

 hour. 



On the ocean surface the seals are often seen 

 asleep, floating on their side or back, with all 

 four flippers folded or with one or more idly 

 stretched into the air. On the island rookeries, 

 activity continues unabated day and night. 



In the open ocean seals may occur singly or 

 in small groups. Food will often attract con- 



centrations of from 6 to 20 seals. Several such 

 groups may be in view at one time. A loose 

 grouping of up to 100 has been observed. The 

 density of seals on wintering grounds is extremely 

 variable, ranging from none to over 70 per square 

 mile. 



A wide range of surface water temperatures 

 is found where seals occur, ranging from 30° 

 up to 59" F. They are found in greatest abund- 

 ance in waters with surface temperature of from 

 47° to 54 F. What seems to be a preference 

 for water of certain temperature may actually 

 be a response to available food. 



Bull seals winter principally in Alaska waters. 

 They have been seen most frequently in the Gulf 

 of Alaska. They begin landing at their breeding 

 rookeries on the Pribilof Islands in late April 

 and appear in increasing numbers until the middle 

 of June. 



The oldest bulls arrive first, and others follow 

 in order of age. The oldest and earliest females 

 appear in June. Occasional yearlings have ap- 

 peared ashore as early as August, but most of 

 them land in October and early November and 

 may remain only 2 or 3 weeks before going to 

 sea again. More male than female yearlings 

 come ashore. Only a small proportion of the 

 yearlings come ashore at all. 



During autumn, most of the animals ashore 

 appear to prefer areas farther up from the beaches 

 than during the summer. The main exodus of 

 seals from their breeding grounds takes place 

 during November even while some yearlings may 

 be still arriving. 



Three- and four-year-old males, which make 

 up the bulk of the commercial kill, arrive in late 

 June, July, and early August. The midpoint 

 for 4-year-old male arrivals is 13-18 July and 

 for 3-year-old arrivals 20-28 July. The midpoint 

 for 4-year-oId female arrivals is more than a 

 month later. Three-year-old females arrive still 

 later, and 2-year-old females are found mixed with 

 yearling males in October and early November. 



