major wintering area. Although visibility was 

 excellent during both surveys, only 21 seals 

 were seen on the first cruise (28-29 May) 

 and 1 on the second (21-22 June), 



A concentration of seals was located north 

 of Pt. Sur in and near the Monterey seavalley 

 from late April to early June. Seals were on 

 the Farallon grounds southwest and west of the 

 Farallon Islands throughout the surveyperiod. 

 Concentrations of seals were also observed 

 on or near Cordell Bank west of Pt. Reyes in 

 April and in early May. 



Seals off California seldom come close to 

 land; however, during a severe storm on 

 14 April we saw an adult female about a half 

 mile from shore at the western approach to 

 Drakes Bay. Seals were abundant offshore at 

 this time. 



Seven observation or transect lines were 

 established between Bodega Head and Pt. Sur 

 at 20-nnile intervals as a basis for a system- 

 atic study of the distribution and migration of 

 fur seals off California. These lines, which 

 extended from 10 to 80 miles out from shore 

 (figs. 2 and 3), were cruised once each month, 

 and the seals seen were recorded (table A-1). 

 Because of the annual northward migration, 

 the number of seals seen per month decreased 

 from 264 in April to 72 in June. Seals were 

 most abundant from 30 to 70 miles offshore 

 (figs. 2 and 3). The greatest concentration was 

 from 30 to 40 miles offshore; abundance de- 

 creased rapidly toward shore and gradually 

 between 40 and 80 miles out. The largest 

 number of seals seen in 1 day in each month 

 were: 16 April - 101, 26 May - 66, and 14 

 June - 46. Thirty seals were seen on the last 

 day (23 June) in the area. 



Surface water temperatures off California 

 ranged from 10° to 14° C. in the areas sur- 

 veyed. Temperatures were mostly 11° to 12° 

 C. in April and May and 12° to 13° C. in June. 



Relative Abundance of Seals and Size 

 of Groups 



The number and relative abundance of seals 

 seen and collected, by 10-day periods, are 

 shown in tables A- 2 and A- 3. The decreasing 

 number of seals seen per boat- hunting day off 

 California in April, May, and June, is a result 

 of the annual northward migration to the 

 Pribilof Islands breeding grounds. This de- 

 crease was not apparent off Washington, where 

 the survey ended at about the peak of migra- 

 tion. 



A group of seals is defined as one or more 

 seals that are feeding, traveling, or resting in 

 close association with each other. A single 

 seal is recorded as a group of 1. Seals sepa- 

 rated from each other by more than 100 yards 

 are recorded as separate groups. The per- 

 centage of seals in each group for Washington 

 and California combined (table A-4) did not 

 change greatly from that observed in 1964 



(Fiscus and Kajinnura, 1965); however, the 

 proportion of single animals off California 

 increased from 29.8 percent in 1964 to 50.6 

 percent in 1965. 



As an example of seal grouping during 

 migration, 67 animals observed moving north 

 off Pt. Reyes, Calif., 29 April, were divided 

 among groups of the following sizes (number 

 of groups in parentheses): 1 seal - (12 groups), 

 2 - (3). 3 - (4), 4 - (3), 5 - (2), 7 - (1), 8 - (I). 

 More than 70 percent of the seals were in 

 groups of 3 to 8; groups as large as these are 

 more conamon when seals are migrating than 

 when they are on their wintering grounds off 

 California. 



Of 1,627 seals sighted in 1965, 419 were 

 collected, 50 were wounded and lost, and 46 

 were killed and lost. 



Distribution by Age and Sex 



The age and sex of seals collected in 1965, 

 by months and areas, are shown in table 1. 

 Distribution by age and sex off California is 

 similar to that of 1964 (Fiscus and Kajimura, 

 1965). 



Monthly changes in the age and sex compo- 

 sition of fur seals collected off California 

 (data for 5 years combined) are shown in 

 table 2. The number and proportion of young 

 males increase in April and May and decrease 

 in June, when seals of all ages beconne less 

 numerous. Males consistently form only a 

 small part of the seal population off California; 

 the few males collected were young. The grad- 

 ual increase in the proportion of young (ages 

 1-4) females off California from 9.8 percent 

 in January to 39.8 percent in June is a result 

 of the northward migration of naany of the 

 older females toward the breeding grounds. 



Tag Recoveries 



Twenty tagged seals were taken in 1965. Of 

 the seals killed and recovered in 1965, 12 

 percent of the seals age 4 and younger and 

 1 percent of those age 5 and older had been 

 tagged (table 3). No seals tagged on Robben 

 Island or the Commander Islands were taken. 



Size 



Lengths and weights are given for pregnant 

 and nonpregnant females collected in 1965 in 

 tables A-5 to A-8 and for males in tables A-9 

 and A- 10. Mean lengths and weights of male 

 and female fetuses collected in 1965 are shown 

 by 1 0-day periods in table A- 1 1 . 



Reproduction 



Diagnosis of the reproductive condition of 

 female fur seals is important in the study of 

 possible segregation at sea by age, sex, or 

 reproductive condition, and for the evaluation 

 of pregnancy rate data. 



