GLOSSARY 



The following terms used in fur seal research 

 and management on the Pribilof Islands have 

 special meanings or are not readily found in 

 standard dictionaries. 



Age Class. Age Group. Seals of the same age 

 (usually used when referring to seals older 

 than pups). See year class. 



At Time of Tagging (or Sampling) Phrases 

 used to qualify estimates of the population 

 based on (1) tag returns at various ages 

 or (2) sampling for a marked-to-unmarked 

 ratio in the summer of birth. In either 

 situation, an estimate of the total number 

 of pups born in a given year would include 

 pups alive "at time of tagging" (or "samp- 

 ling") plus the number that died before 

 tagging or sampling. 



Checkmark A notch, slit, hole, or other mark 

 made on a seal flipper when a tag is ap- 

 plied, to ensure later recognition of an 

 animal that has lost its tag. See marked, 

 lost tag, and tag-scar. 



Clinch or Clinching The device or action by 

 which metal tags applied to seal flippers 

 are fastened. A metal point is inserted 

 through an opening in the opposite end 

 of the metal strip, then bent over a 

 narrow band to form a closed ring (or 

 tag). 



Drive The act of surrounding and moving 

 groups of seals on land fronn one location 

 to another. 



Escapement Seals that were not killed because 

 they were either too old, too large, or 

 were not available. 



Female Kill That part of the annual harvest 

 devoted principally to the kill of fennale 

 seals, usually in August. See nnale kill. 



General Breeding Season Organized breeding 

 beginning about mid-June and ending in 

 early August. Identifiable by the formation 

 of harems. A limited amount of breeding 

 also occurs after the breakup of the harem 

 structure. 



Hauling Ground An area, usually near a rook- 

 ery, on which nonbreeding seals con- 

 gregate. See rookery. 



Haul Out The act of seals moving from the sea 

 to a rookery or hauling ground on shore. 



Homing Tendency The inclination of seals to 

 return to the rookery where they were 

 born- -that is, home rookery or rookery 

 of birth. Homing tendency is expressed as 

 a percentage by comparing the number of 

 tagged seals in a specific group that were 

 found on their natal rookery with the 

 number that were found on some other 

 rookery or island. 



Known-age Applied to seals for which age is 

 definitely known because they bear an 

 inscribed tag or have a certain combina- 

 tion of tag- scar and checkmark. 



Lost-tag A term applied to a seal that is 

 known to have been tagged because of a 

 checkmark and, in some, a healed tag 

 scar. See tag-scar. 



Lost-tag-to-tag Ratio The number of seals 

 that have lost tags as compared with the 

 number retaining tags. Usually expressed 

 as a decimal fraction. 



Male Kill That part of the annual harvest 

 devoted principally to the kill of male 

 seals, usually in late June, in July, and 

 in early August. See fennale kill. 



Mane A secondary sex characteristic com- 

 posed of long, silver-colored guard hairs 

 on the shoulders and on back of the neck. 

 The mane appears on some males at age 5, 

 on most at age 6, and on all at age 7 and 

 older. 



Marked Seals that have been tagged or sheared 

 so that they can be identified. Removal of 

 a hind flipper digit, cutting a V-notch in 

 the leading edge of a front flipper near 

 the tip, or slicing off the tip of a front 

 flipper are also examples of marking. 

 These marks, when applied to seals in 

 conjunction with tags, are considered 

 checkmarks. When applied alone, they are 

 considered as marks only. See check- 

 mark, lost-tag, and tag-scar. 



Marked-to-unmarked Ratio The number of 

 marked seals compared with the number 

 of unmarked seals, usually expressed as a 

 decimal fraction. Example, 5:20, ratio 

 0.25. 



Mixed Areas Areas behind some of the rook- 

 eries on which few seals appear until 

 August, or after the general breeding 

 season. Seals using these areas at that 

 time may be a mixture of animals from 

 traditional hauling grounds and from the 

 rookery. 



Mortality Percentage of a year class dying 

 during a specific period. 



Pregnancy Rate Percentage of females that 

 were carrying or had borne pups in the 

 year of examination. For example, the 

 pregnancy rate of 5-year-old females was 

 40 percent. 



Return The return or survival of seals from a 

 year class. For example, 18,642 3-year- 

 old seals from the 1960 year class re- 

 turned in 1963. 



Rookery An area on which breeding seals 

 congregate. 



Round The sequence in which hauling grounds 

 on St. Paul Island are visited to collect 

 seals for harvest. Current practice is to 

 make a complete circuit or round of the 

 hauling grounds in 5 days and to repeat 

 the procedure throughout the kill of males. 

 The round system is not followed during 

 the kill of females on St. Paul Island, nor 

 during the kill of males and females on 

 St. George Island. 



24 



