ATTACHED ORGANISMS (COMMENSALS) 



All seals collected since 1965 have been 

 examined for gooseneck barnacles and algae. 

 Records through 1966 are summarized in 

 "Fur seal investigations, 1966" (U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Commercial 



Fisheries, 1969). No gooseneck barnacles or 

 algae were found attached to the fur of 131 

 seals collected off Washington in 1967 (80 in 

 January and 51 in February). 



FOOD 



Fur seals feed on a variety of fishand ceph- 

 alopods in the eastern and western North 

 Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, 

 and Sea of Japan (Lucas, 1899; Scheffer, 1950; 

 Taylor, Fujinaga, and Wilke, 1955; Wilke and 

 Kenyon, 1957; Fiscus et al., 1964; North Pa- 

 cific Fur Seal Commission, 1965; Fiscus etal., 

 1965; and Fiscus and Kajimura, 1965; 1967). 



Fur seals are usually found offshore on or 

 near the edge of the Continental Shelf, where 

 they feed on the most readily available school- 

 ing fishes and squids. Fur seals feed princi- 

 pally between dusk and dawn; however, they 

 may also feed during the day. 



Food items found in fur seal stomachs were 

 identified by comparing them with reference 

 collection specimens and by using identification 

 keys prepared by Berry (1912; 1914); Sasaki 

 (1929); Schultz (1936); Clothier (1950); Clemens 

 and Wilby (1961); Clarke (1962); andAkimush- 

 kin (1963). 



STOMACH CONTENTS OF FUR SEALS 

 TAKEN OFF WASHINGTON 



The number of fur seal stomachs examined 

 from Washington waters since 1958 is 1,001. 

 Yearly totals were: 



1958 



83 



1959 



230 



1961 



382 



1964 1965 1967 



28 



147 



131 



During these years 80 percent (799) of the 

 fur seals collected off Washington were taken 

 in April; 57 percent (about 570) of the stomachs 

 contained food. Figure 15 shows the four food 

 species eaten in greatest volume. 



Table 33 gives the stomach contents of fur 

 seals collected off Washington in 1967. Sixty- 

 eight percent of the stomachs contained food. 

 Salmonidae, herring, rockfish, shad, and an- 

 chovy made up 96.6 percent of the total food 

 volume. Salmonidae contributed 32.3 percent 

 and herring 24.2 percent. The remains of 

 shrimp were found for the first time in two 

 stomachs. 



Where applicable, the common and scientific 

 names of fish are from a list published by the 

 American Fisheries Society (I960), and names 

 of cephalopods are those used by Berry (1912; 

 1914) and Sasaki (1929). 



1958 

 21 -29 APRIL (83) 



1961 

 21-31 MARCH (58) 

 1-25 APRIL (326) 



1964 



7-8 APRIL (19) 



31 MAY (5) I JUNE (4) 



1965 

 2-24 APRIL (147) 



1967 

 6-31 JANUARY (80) 

 I- I I FEBRUARY (51) 



The following fishes and cephalopods were 

 identified: 



Alosa sapidissima . A minor food of fur seals 

 off Washington, American shad ranked fourth 

 in total food volume in 1967 (fig. 16) and were 

 found in seven stomachs. Previous occur- 

 rences were: one in 1959; eight in 1961 (con- 

 tributed 5.1 percent of total food volume); and 

 one in 1964. 



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