on file at MMBL) sighted 10 seals on 18 

 December 1948 about 37 km. (20 nautical miles) 

 west of Cape Flattery. On 10 February 1950 

 they sighted 69 seals during a flight from Cape 

 Flattery south along the 183-m. (100-fathom) 

 depth contour to the Columbia River (unpub- 

 lished map on file MMBL). The largest con- 

 centrations of fur seals were seen off Grays 

 Harbor. 



Observations made more recently from 

 vessels en route to the wintering grounds of 

 fur seals off California follow: February 

 1958--2 days, 22 seals sighted, 1 collected; 

 January 1959--3_days, 18 seals sighted, 1 col- 

 lected; January 1966--1 day, 7 seals sighted; 

 February 1966 — 1 day, 14 seals sighted. 



Fur seal distribution off Washington from 

 6 January to 12 February 1967 is shown by 

 month in figures 12 and 13. 



Tables C-2 and C-3 show by month the 

 length of time vessels occupied a square, the 

 total number of seals seen and collected, and 

 the number seen per hour. 



Except for 24 seals seen during a cruise to 

 519 km. (280 miles) offshore on 26 January, 

 very few seals were seen along offshore 

 transects. Seals were most commonly seen 

 within 111 km. (60 miles) of land. Generally, 

 seals in offshore waters were more active 

 than those observed along the Continental 

 Shelf and inside the 183-m. (100-fathom) depth 

 contour. 



The time of arrival of the first seals off 

 the coast of Washington to California (Decem- 

 ber) suggests that seals travel eastward or 

 southeastward from the eastern Aleutian 

 passes at a fairly regular rate and probably 

 do not linger en route. They migrate slowly 

 through waters near the Continental Slope and 

 Shelf, where food is abundant. 



We found seals numerous along, and on, 

 the Continental Shelf from Grays Harbor north- 

 ward towards Umatilla Reef in early February. 

 In January and February, we usually saw seals 

 off Cape Flattery, Wash., and westward to 

 La Perouse Bank. 



Surface water temperatures in the area sur- 

 veyed off Washington varied from 6° to 10° C; 

 the temperature was usually 8° or 9° C. 



Two observers at sea for 31 days off north- 

 ern California, Oregon, and Washington during 

 August and September 1967 saw two fur seals. 



Tables C-4 and C-5 show the number of 

 seals seen and collected off Washington from 

 6 January through 12 February 1967. The num- 

 ber seen and collected by 10-day periods in 

 January and early February was less than that 

 for 10-day periods in April 1965 (Fiscus and 

 Kajimura, 1967). Storms made observations 

 more difficult in January and February 1967. 



Seals were still migrating south through the 

 area in January. 



Table C-6 shows grouping of seals. Group 

 size did not differ greatly from that of pre- 

 vious years. 



Of 835 seals sighted off Washington in 1967, 

 131 were collected, 27 were wounded and lost, 

 and 21 sank after they were killed. Tables C-7 

 and C-8 show numbers and percentages of all 

 seals sighted, collected, wounded and lost, and 

 killed and lost from 1958 to 1967. 8 There has 

 been a small increase in the percentage of 

 seals wounded and lost, and killed and lost in 

 the past 2 years when compared with 1958 to 

 1965. The use of larger, less maneuverable 

 vessels with high bows in 1966 and 1967 may 

 have caused the increase. 



Table 26 shows by month the age and sex of 

 seals collected in 1967. We expected the year- 

 ling seals in the collection, because beach- 

 combers in past years have reported the 

 stranding of several 1-year-old tagged seals 

 along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and 

 British Columbia during January and Feb- 

 ruary. 



Seals collected off Washington in January 

 and February 1967 were younger than seals 

 collected during the same period in 1966 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, 1969) off California. 

 The percentage of the catch in different age 

 categories in the respective areas was: 



K. W. Kenyon, Wildlife Research Biologist, Bureau of 

 Sport Fisheries and Wildlife; and V. B. Scheffer, Wildlife 

 Research Blologlsh, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 



1 One male, age 4, in the sample. 



Some seals from the Pribilof Islands mi- 

 grate into the western North Pacific Ocean in 

 late autumn, but recoveries of tags from the 

 Pribilof Islands suggest that most move into 

 the eastern North Pacific. 



There is some segregation of fur seals at 

 sea by age and sex. Females of all year 

 classes and young males of ages 1 to 4 are 

 found in the Gulf of Alaska and the eastern 

 North Pacific Ocean during winter and spring. 

 Males more than 5 years old are not regularly 

 found south of Dixon Entrance (lat. 54°30' N.). 

 We found more females age 5 and older off 

 California than off Washington in January and 

 February. 



The age and sex of fur seals collected by 

 the United States off Washington by month 



Many seals sighted during this period were not hunted 

 because sea conditions made hunting impractical, vessels 

 were running observation transects, and it was impossible 

 to hunt all seals sighted in large concentrations. 



29 



