Squids. Squids are one of the major foods of 

 the fur seal throughout its range. Loligo opa - 

 lescens . Onychoteuthis sp., and Gonatus fabri- 

 cii . together, were the main food of fur seals 

 off Washington by frequency of occurrence 

 during January and February 1967. ( Onycho - 

 teuthis banksii and 0_. boreali japonicus were 

 until recently considered synonymous. Evi- 

 dence now indicates that both may be valid 

 species. Until this question is resolved speci- 

 mens of Onychoteuthis can be identified to 

 genus only.) Squid bodies are quickly digested, 

 frequently leaving only the beaks and pens. 

 Therefore, squids usually rank high in fre- 

 quency of occurrence and low in percentage 

 of total volume. 



Loligo opalescens. These squids are the 

 major species eaten by fur seals off the Wash- 

 ington coast. In 1967, most were in stomachs 

 of seals taken in less than 183 m. (100 fathoms) 

 of water mainly near La Perouse Bank and 

 off Cape Flattery, Wash. (fig. 18). One seal 

 taken at lat. 48°32' N., long. 125°39' W. con- 

 tained the remains of 62 L. opalescens . The 

 stomachs of four seals collected more than 

 315 km. (170 nautical miles) from the nearest 

 land (between lat. 49°00' N.,long. 131°50' W., 

 and lat. 49°00' N., long. 132^25' W.) contained 

 beaks of L. opalescens . 



Onychoteuthis sp. These squids were found 

 in the stomachs of three fur seals from lat. 

 48°29' N., long. 124°56' W.; lat. 47°40' N., 

 long. 125°03' W.; and lat. 47°15" N., long. 

 124°46' W. They are a minor food species in 

 Washington waters. 



Gonatus fabricii. These squids are also a 

 minor food of fur seals off Washington. Two 

 occurrences in 1967 were from a seal taken 

 in less than 183 m. (100 fathoms) of water, 

 at lat. 48°28' N„ long. 124°53' W., and another 

 in water of over 2,743 m. (1,500 fathoms), at 

 lat. 49°00' N„ long. 131°50' W. 



Squids in 14 stomachs were identified as 

 gonatids (Gonatidae), species undetermined. 

 The stomachs of two seals, collected in deep 

 water at lat. 49°00' N. and long. 131°50' W. 

 and 132°17' W., contained 66 and 73 squids of 

 the family Gonatidae. 



Miscellaneous objects found in fur seal 

 stomachs in 1967 were: pebbles in five stom- 

 achs, one of which contained 354 (largest size 

 1.7 X 2.6 cm.); one parasitic isopod Rocinela 

 belliceps ; and three occurrences of other 

 Crustacea (two shrimp and one crab). One 

 seal taken at lat. 47°17' N., long. 124°47' W. 

 had the remains of 12 shrimp and another 

 taken at lat. 49°00' N., long. 132°17' W. had 

 remains of one shrimp. These are the first 

 records of shrimp in fur seal stomachs. 



Figure 18. — Locations where fur seal stomachs collected 

 off Washington in 1967 contained Loligo opalescens 

 (47 occurrences). 



INGESTION OF MARINE ORGANISMS 

 BY PUPS 



The food and feeding habits of adult and sub- 

 adult fur seals are generally well known from 

 extensive pelagic research conducted from 

 1958 through 1967 by Canada, Japan, the 

 U.S.S.R., and the United States under terms of 

 the Interim Convention on Conservation of 

 North Pacific Fur Seals. The food of pups im- 

 mediately before and after their departure 

 from the Pribilof Islands, however, has been 

 studied little. This section summarizes the 

 information available on the latter subject and 

 presents a study of the food of 20 pups col- 

 lected on St. Paul Island in 1966. 



Several investigators have suggested that 

 the pups are wholly dependent on milk until 

 they leave the islands in autumn. According 

 to Lucas (1899), 13 of 22 stomachs examined 

 by Clark on St. Paul Island from 29 August to 

 20 October 1896 contained milk, 7 were empty, 

 and 2 contained crustaceans. Lucas concluded 

 that the pups feed exclusively on milk before 

 migrating south. Scheffer (1950) stated that the 

 pups are less likely to learn to catch fish 

 before weaning and that they change abruptly 



44 



