Table 10. — Reproductive condition of Soviet-tagged females, St. Paul Island, 1963 



N = nulliparous. 

 P = primiparous. 

 POL = post partum-left cornu. 



TAG RECOVERIES AND TAGGING 

 Tag Recoveries 



In general, tagged male seals were killed 

 only if they were equal in size to untagged male 

 seals. The one exception in 1963 was the 

 killing of a few tagged 5- and 6-year-old 

 males for experimental purposes. Most seals 

 of these ages escape because they are usually 

 too large. All females longer than 42 inches, 

 tip of nose to tip of tail, driven in 1963 were 

 killed. 



A total of 2,077 checkmarks from seals 

 that had lost their tags were recorded; 3,703 

 tags were recovered. These data are sum- 

 marized in table 11 by sex, age, and island. 

 Additional details on tag recoveries are in 

 appendix table 12. 



Thirty-four seals selected and tagged as 

 yearlings in 1961 (M-series) and 50 selected 

 and tagged as yearlings in 1962 (N-series) 

 were recovered from seals killed on the 

 Pribilof Islands in 1963. The recovery in- 

 formation is summarized in table 12 and given 

 in detail in appendix table 13. 



Information on 37 Soviet-tagged seals killed 

 on the Pribilof Islands in 1963 is summarized 

 in table 13. Appendix table 14 provides addi- 

 tional details. 



Tagging — Pups 



The number of pups tagged in 1963 is listed 

 in table 14, by rookery; a record of pups 

 tagged on the Pribilof Islands since 1941 is 

 given in appendix table 17. 



As discussed on page 19 of this report, 

 there are several reasons why pup population 

 estimates based on a tagging program may be 

 inflated. Perhaps the most important of these 

 reasons is extra mortality of tagged pups or 

 mortality caused directly by the tagging pro- 

 gram. Accordingly, the tagging program was 

 reduced in 1963 in the belief that more time 

 devoted to each pup would result in gentler 

 handling and in better placement of the tags. 

 Significant reduction in extra mortality should 

 follow. 



Of 25,000 P-series tags attached to pups in 

 1963, 20,000 were used on St. Paul Island and 

 5,000 were used on St. George Island. Of the 

 20,000 tags used on St. Paul Island, half were 

 attached to pups during normal tagging time 

 (August) and half were used in late September. 

 Mortality rates of the two groups will be com- 

 pared in 1966 when the survivors return at 

 age 3. Older and larger pups may survive the 

 effects of tagging better than pups tagged 

 earlier in life. A tagging program in late 

 September, however, has two disadvantages. 

 First, the pups are more difficult to handle 

 because they are larger and stronger; and 

 second, the pups are spending long periods 

 of time in the water by late September. These 

 conditions make it more difficult to tag large 

 numbers of pups in late September than inlate 

 August. The advantages of the two tagging 

 dates might be satisfactorily combined in an 

 early September tagging program. 



Tagging of the first 10,000 pups on St. Paul 

 Island was completed in 8 days (260 man 

 hours) during 12-21 August. The second 10,000 

 pups were tagged in 5 days (432 man hours) 

 during 20-26 September. On St. George Island, 



12 



