Females 



Age Classification. --The female seals killed 

 on the Pribilof Islands in 1964 are classified 

 by age in appendix tables 10, 11, 12, and 13. 

 Year class contributions to the female kills on 

 the Pribilof Islands are given in table 5 for 

 the years 1939-63. Table 6 shows the percent 

 age composition of female seals sampled from 

 the kills on the Pribilof Islands from 1958 to 

 1964. 



Because the need to reduce the number of 

 females has ended, most old females appearing 

 in the drives in 1964 were allowed to escape. 

 In general, only females having black or a 

 mixture of black and white vibrissae were 

 killed. Selection on this basis roughly restricts 

 the kill of this sex to ages 2-5, or those having 

 the highest quality skins. Most females 6 years 

 old and older have white vibrissae. 



The source of females killed on St. Paul 

 Island in 1964 was noted, that is, whether 

 from traditional male hauling grounds, rookery 

 fringes, or from mixed areas. The age com- 



position of females taken from these three 

 areas is given in table 7. Behind some of the 

 rookeries are areas on which few animals 

 appear until August, or after the general 

 breeding season. Because seals using these 

 areas may be a mixture of animals from the 

 rookery and from the hauling ground, they are 

 classified as coming from a mixed area. As 

 in 1963, there was little difference in the age 

 composition of females taken from the three 

 areas. 



Reproduction .-- The genital tracts from 147 

 3-year-old and 73 4-year-old females taken 

 in the kill on St. Paul Island in 1964 were 

 collected and preserved for a detailed study 

 to be made later. A gross examination of the 

 genital tracts revealed that none of the 3-year- 

 old females had given birth to pups in 1964 or 

 previously; three 4-year-old females were 

 primiparous and post partum. 



Soviet tagged females bearing tags M- 13487, 

 E-17100, and C-54750 (ages 2, 3, and 4, 



Table 5. --Kill of female seals, by year class,— Pribilof Islands , Alaska, 1939-63 



1/ Includes pelagic research kill of the United States and Canada, 1958-64. In addition to the 

 above kill, 50,438 females, 11 and older, 19,484 females, 8 and older, and 2,360 unclassified 

 females, were taken. 



