A total of Z,736 tags were recovered from 

 male seals in ages 2-10, and 1,508 check- 

 marks were recorded from males that had 

 lost their tags (table 6), 



A total of 463 tags were recovered from 

 females in ages 2-17, and 240 checkmarks 

 were recorded from females in ages 2-6. 

 Checkmarks from females age 7 and older 

 were not recorded because each of the four 

 front flipper marks used since 1953 (app. 

 table 18) has been repeated every fourth year. 

 Thus, the location and type of checkmarks on 

 females age 7 and older may be identical on 

 animals of different ages. Checkmarked 

 females (as well as males) 2 and 6 years old 

 can be separated on the basis of body size. 



A total of 238 seals selected as yearlings 

 on the basis of body length and double-tagged 

 on St. Paul Island in 1961 (M-series), 1962 

 (N- series), and 1963 (O-series) were recovered 

 on the Pribilof Islands in 1965 (table 7). 



Thirty-six seals tagged by the U.S. S.R. were 

 killed on the Pribilof Islands in 1965 (table 8 

 and app. table 16). 



Tagging and marking of pups . --Pups were 

 not tagged or marked on St. George Island in 

 1965. 



On St. Paul Island, 30,000 pups were tagged 

 and marked, or marked only, as follows: 

 (1) Tags were attached to the left front flipper 

 of 10,000 pups between the fourth and fifth 

 digits, and a V-notch checkmark was cut into 

 the leading edge of the same flipper with 

 veterinary ear-notching instruments; (2) 10,080 

 pups were marked only by removing the tip 

 of the first digit (big toe) of the right hind 

 flipper at the web; and (3) 10,007 pups were 

 marked only by cutting a V-notch into the 

 leading edge of the right front flipper. The 

 tagging and marking were completed in 8 days 

 by 1 1 men. Example of tag and mark locations 

 used on fur seal pups are illustrated in figure 8. 



The veining chisels formerly used to make 

 the V-notch checkmarks were replaced in 1962 

 with veterinary ear-notching instruments. The 

 latter tool is superior because it is easier to 

 use, does not require a surface such as wood 

 to cut against, is adjustable for horizontal 

 depth of cut, and remains sharp during thou- 

 sands of cuts; furthermore, it makes con- 

 sistently good marks such as that shown in 

 figure 9, whereas the veining chisels tended 

 to slip off the edge of the flipper and leave 

 only a faint and unrecognizable checkmark. 

 Figure 10 illustrates a few of the checkmarks 

 made by veterinary ear-notching instruments 

 in 1962 and recovered from tagged 3-year- 

 old males in 1965. Of 279 tagged seals ex- 

 amined, 266 had checkmarks that were easily 

 recognizable; only 13 of the tagged seals did 

 not have recognizable checkmarks. 



All tags used since 1952 have been attached 

 to front flippers, and most have been attached 



to the front flipper at the hairline (fig. 8); 

 however, in 1964, a new tagging site lopated 

 between the fourth and fifth digits (fig. 8) was 

 used for half (10,000) of the pups tagged. The 

 new site was used on all pups tagged in 1965 

 to lessen damage by tagging. The effective- 

 ness of the new tagging site is not yet known. 



The number of pups tagged in 1965 is listed 

 in appendix table 17 by rookery, and a record 

 of pups tagged on the Pribilof Islands since 

 1941 is given in appendix table 18. 



T agging of yearlings .-- The methods used 

 to select and tag yearlings in 1965 were nearly 

 the same as in 1962 and 1963. The upper 

 length limit was reduced from 37.5 inches 

 (95 cm.) to 35.0 inches (89 cm.) for females 

 after the second day of tagging in 1965 to 

 prevent selection of females older than age 1 

 for tagging. Body length has proved to be a 

 good basis for selecting yearling males; it is 

 not suitable for identifying yearling females, 

 however (see section on estimates based on 

 recoveries of tags applied to yearlings), be- 

 cause of the greater overlap in lengths among 

 1-, 2-, and even 3-year-old females. Anupper 

 body-length limit of 39.5 inches (100 cm.) has 

 been used successfully to separate yearling 

 males from older males. The length-frequency 

 distributions of known-age yearling males 

 tagged as pups and males selected as yearlings 

 on the basis of body length are similar (fig. 11); 

 the mean lengths of the two differ by only 1 

 cm. (table 9). 



The surveys for known-age yearlings tagged 

 as pups, begun in 1963, were discontinued in 

 1965 because it was impossible to tag yearlings 

 and make surveys during the same period. 

 Also, no apparent way existed to standardize 

 the survey work from year to year. 



Most of the yearlings found in 1965 were 

 on hauling grounds on Zapadni Reef and south 

 of Sea Lion Neck. 



In previous years, the hauling ground areas 

 most used by yearlings were examined in 1 day. 

 In 1965, however, seals were so abundant on 

 the hauling grounds that it was impossible to 

 examine all areas in less than 2 days. Possibly 

 weather caused more animals to be on the 

 hauling grounds in 1965 than in other years. 

 The weather during tagging was windy with 

 occasional snow. The relation between weather 

 and the location of yearlings, however, is not 

 clear. 



Six men tagged 991 yearlings in 7-1/2 days 

 in 1965 (app. table 19). 



Pup Mortality 



The number of dead pups counted in 1965 

 was 181 percent of the number counted in 

 1964 on St. Paul Island and 219 percent on 

 St. George Island. The counts for both Islands 

 are illustrated in figure 12 for 1950-65 and 

 given in detail in appendix table 20 for 1941-65. 



11 



