Table 27. --Mean weights— of seal pups approximately 1 week after tagging, St. Paul 



Island, year classes 1957-64 



Group 



1957 



1958 



1959 



I960 



1961 



19621.' 



2/ 



19631' 



3/ 



1964 



3/ 



1/ 



- ■ Numbers in parentheses are the number of pups in each sample. 



— Mean weights from the first of three weighings. 

 3 / 



— Two weeks after tagging. 



RELATED STUDIES 



Since 1958, 1,884 skins were collected on 

 St. Paul Island for experimental use in relating 

 economic value to biological factors, particu- 

 larly age and sex. Table 28 lists the skins 



fable 28. --Skins collected for experimental 

 use, St. Paul Island, 1958 and 1961-64 



Males 



Females 



Year Number Ages 



Number 



Ages 



A substance (strontium 90?) which affected 

 photographic film was found in the 1962-63 

 layer of dentin in certain teeth. Studies are 

 continuing. 



A survey was completed of the surface 

 features of sheared sealskin. Plastic impres- 

 sions were made from the sheared skins of 

 various seals representing the 20 genera of 

 Pinnipedia. One purpose of the study was to 

 provide a key to the identification of fragments 

 found in the stomachs of killer whales, sharks, 

 and other predators. 



1958 



248 



2-10 



SUMMARY 



2-4 

 3-6 

 2-7 



117 

 171 

 120 

 436 



2-5 

 2-15 

 3-6 

 2-6 



taken and marked to permit identification 

 through processing into finished furs. 



Experimental skins taken in 1958 and 1961-62 

 were processed, "graded, and sold. Those col- 

 lected in 1963 and 1964 are currently in cold 

 storage where they will be held until proc- 

 essed. 



Sectioned teeth of eight 8-year-old female 

 fur seals were examined by the Laboratory 

 of Radiation Biology. University of Washington. 



Males : 



1 . Of 48,980 male seals killed on the Pribilof 

 Islands in 1964, 47,011 were taken during the 

 male kill from 1 July to 7 August and 1,969 

 were taken during the female kill 14-28 August. 

 St. Paul Island supplied 37,789, and St. George 

 Island, 11,191. Based on a collection of 6,727 

 right upper canine teeth, age classification of 

 the kill in percent for ages 2-5 was: St. Paul 

 Island, 7, 60, 28, and 5; St. George Island, 

 10, 62, 23, and 5. In 1964, male seals were 

 taken from the minimum limits of 42 inches, 

 tip of nose to tip of tail, up to but not including 

 those having a mane. 



'Victor B. Scheffer. 1964. Hair patterns in seals 

 (Pinnipedia). Journal of Morphology (in press). 



'Victor B. Scheffer. 1964. Estimating abundance of 

 pelage fibres on fur seal skin. Proceedings of the Zoo- 

 logical Society of London (in press). 



23 



