Table 5. — Nunber and percentage of seals collected off California 

 in 1965 with algae or barnacles growing on guard hairs 



Algae grew most frequently on the throat, 

 nape, and back. Barnacles were most fre- 

 quently attached to guard hairs on the ear 

 pinna, nape, and back. The number of barnacles 

 found on individual seals ranged from 1 to 42; 

 size of capitulum ranged from 1 to 1 5 mm. 



Algae identified as Ectocarpus spp. were 

 taken from seals collected in 1964 in the same 

 area and at the same tinne of year as in 1965. 

 The algae collected in 1 965 were not identified. 



Lepas pectinata pacifica was identified on 

 85 seals and L. anatifera on 9. Both species 

 were growing on eight seals. Legas spp. (?) 

 were found on four seals. Cypris stages of L. p. 

 pacifica were present on 15 seals.* 



Food 



Fur seals feed on a variety of fishes and 

 cephalopods. Reports on the food and feeding 

 of fur seals in the eastern North Pacific and 

 Bering Sea were given by: Lucas (1899); 

 Scheffer (1950); Taylor, Fujinaga, and Wilke 

 (1955); North Pacific Fur Seal Commission 

 Report on Investigations from 1958 to 1961 

 (1964); Fiscus, Baines, and Wilke (1964); 

 Fiscus, Baines, and Kajimura (1965); and 

 Fiscus and Kajimura (1965). 



In 1965, 416 stomachs taken from seals 

 collected in waters off Washington (147) and 

 California (269) were examined: 324 or 78 

 percent (67 percent off Washington and 84 per- 

 cent off California) contained food. Of these, 

 however, 136 contained only trace amounts' of 

 food (Washington 56, California 80). 



Fish and cephalopods found in the stonnachs 

 of fur seals were identifiedby comparison with 

 preserved whole specimens and skeletons, and 

 by using identification keys prepared by An- 

 driashev (1937, 1954); Berry (1912, 1914); 

 Clemens and Wilby (1961); Clothier (1950); 

 Fraser-Brunner (1949); Hitz (1965); Phillips 

 (1957, 1964); Roedel (1953); Sasaki (1929); 

 Schultz (1936); and Wilimovsky (1 958).* When- 



* Identification of 39 barnacle samples was verified by 

 Dora P. Henry, Oceanography Department, University of 

 Washington. 



' Trace amount = a stomach containing less than 5 cc. 

 of food. 



' N. J. Wilimovsky. 1958. Provisional keys to the fishes 

 of Alaska. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological 

 Laboratory, Juneau, Alaska. 113 p. [Processed manu- 

 script.] 



ever possible, vertebral counts were made to 

 aid in identification of unknown fish found in 

 fur seal stomachs. Lengths and weights of 

 whole fish and squids were measured for use 

 in studies of size of food species taken and 

 stomach capacity of fur seals. 



New species of fish or squid are added to 

 the list of fur seal food almost every year. 

 In 1965, Moroteuthis robusta is reported for 

 the first time as fur seal food. The major food 

 species usually remain the same in a given 

 area, but their rank may change from year to 

 year and from season to season. Observations 

 at sea and examination of stomach contents 

 during the past 8 years (1958-65) show that 

 fur seals feed primarily between dusk and 

 dawn. Food species occurring in fur seal 

 stomachs are shown in figures A- 1 to A- 8. 

 The detailed results of stomach contents are 

 shown in tables 6 and 7. Figure 4 shows the 

 percentage volume and percentage occurrence 

 of food items that contributed more than 2 

 percent of the total food volume in each of the 

 areas. 



The numbers of stomachs collected off Cali- 

 fornia and Washington since 1958 are as 

 follows: 



1958 1959 1961 1964 1965 



Washington 

 California 



83 

 470 



230 

 1,263 



382 

 847 



28 

 305 



147 

 269 



The following fishes and cephalopods were 

 found in fur seal stomachs examined in 1965. 

 The common and scientific names of fish are 

 from the list (where applicable) published by 

 the American Fisheries Society ( 1 960). Cepha- 

 lopod names are those used by Berry (1912, 

 1914) and Sasaki (1929). 



Lampetra tridentata . Pacific lampreys were 

 found in the stomachs of five seals collected 

 off Washington in 1965 (fig. A-1); this species 

 was also in the stomachs of three seals col- 

 lected off Grays Harbor, Wash., in 1961.^ 



Clupeidae. Vertebral fragments of fish be- 

 longing to this family were in the stomachs 

 of two fur seals collected off California (fig. 

 A-2). Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) 

 were identified in the stomachs of four seals 

 taken off California and in the stomachs of 

 five taken off Washington (fig. A-3). Pacific 

 herring is not an important fur seal food off 

 the California and Washington coasts (North 

 Pacific Fur Seal Commission, 1964; Fiscus 

 and Kajimura, 1965). 



Engraulis mordax. Northern anchovy ranked 

 third in total food volume and fifth in frequency 

 off California; off Washington it was first in 



'Clifford H. Fiscus, Karl Niggol, and Ford Wilke. 

 1961. Pelagic fur seal investigations, California to 

 British Columbia, 1961. Bureau of Commercial Fish- 

 eries, Marine Mammal Biological Laboratory, Seattle, 

 Wash. [Processed, 87 p.] 



10 



