EAST REEF 



EAST CLIFFS 



Figure 2. — Locationsof rookeries and hauling grounds, St. George Island. 



AGE CLASSIFICATION AND NUMBER OF SEALS KILLED, BY SEX 



Only male seals were purposely killed for 

 their skins in 1966. A few hundred females 

 were killed accidentally, or for research 

 purposes. 



MALES 



In 1966, male seals were killed daily from 

 7 July to 5 August on St, Paul Island and on 

 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on St. 

 George Island from 6 July to 5 August. Killing 

 began about 5 a.m. on St. Paul Island and 

 about 9 a.m. on St. George Island. 



All available subadult males 42 inches 

 (106.7 cm.) long or longer from tip of nose 

 to tip of tail, but without manes, were taken. 

 From 22 through 26 July the lower length 

 limit was removed to allow a complete kill 

 of all available 2-year-old males for a con- 

 tinuing study of the relation of abundance of 

 a year class on land at age 2 to the number 

 of the same year class available for killing 

 at age 3. Additional data are needed to com- 

 plete the study. 



To determine the age composition of the 

 kill, right upper canine teeth were collected 

 from 20 percent of the male seals killed each 

 day on St. Paul Island and 20 percent of the 

 kills in excess of 300 animals on St. George 

 Island. Kills of 300 or fewer on St. George 

 Island were sampled at the rate of 40 percent. 



(The kills on St. Paul Island were rarely 

 fewer than 300.) 



A total of 52,497 male seals killed on the 

 Pribilof Islands in 1966 included 42,104 in 

 ages 2 to 5 on St, Paul Island and 10,393 in 

 ages 2 to 6 on St. George Island (tables A- 1 

 to A-4). Three-year-olds dominated the kill 

 throughout the season on St, Paul Island 

 (fig, 3), but only after l6 July on St. George 

 Island (fig. 4). 



The kills of male seals in year classes 

 1947-64 are given in table 1 for the Pribilof 

 Islands. 



9 5 



=)4 



o 



5, 2 



— X— 3-YE4R-OL0 MALES 

 — •— 4-YEAR-OLD MALES 



.^' 



^V. 



7 

 JULY 



DATE 



31 5 



AUGUST 



Figure 3. — Kill of 3- and 4-year-old male seals, by 5-day 

 periods, St. Paul Island, 7 July to 5 August 1966. 



