be practical for use on large numbers of seals 

 until an easier method of application is de- 

 veloped. 



Monel ear tag (size 4 ). --This tag is a 

 smaller version of the Monel tag now used to 

 mark large numbers of pups. In 1 965, 1 95 pups 

 were tagged between the second and third digits 

 of the right hind flipper by making a slit in the 

 web perpendicular to the long axis of the 

 flipper and clinching the tag over the forward 

 edge of the slit. This tag was difficult to apply; 

 the metal was so flexible that many tags did 

 not clinch properly and were later lost. 



Monel butt-end leg band. --This tag is nor- 

 mally used for banding birds. In 1965, two 

 territorial males were immobilized and 

 marked with this type of tag. In 1966, 99 size- 

 28 bands, modified by grinding one of the butt 

 ends to a beveled point, were applied around 

 the first digit of the right hind flipper of 

 2-year-old males that had been previously 

 tagged as pups. Use of an applicator designed 

 for attaching size-24 bands, however, per- 

 mitted the ends to slip past one another. 

 (Normally, the two ends of this tag butt 

 against each other.) This tag may be suitable 

 for marking older animals but seems too large 

 (and subject to tearing out) to consider foruse 

 on pups. 



Other marks . --Since 1947, pups have been 

 marked by removing various parts of flippers 

 as well as by tagging, so that those that lose 

 their tags can be identified as to the year of 

 birth. These marks have been designated as 

 "checkmarks" when used with tags. Marking 

 without tagging was first tried in 1965 when a 

 V -notch was cut into the leading edge of the 

 right front flipper of each of 10,007 pups on 

 St. Paul Island (fig. 13). An additional 10,080 

 pups were marked in that year by removing 

 the tip of the first digit of the right hind flipper 

 at the web (fig. 13). In 1966, the tip of the third 

 digit of the right hind flipper was removed 

 from 9,578 pups on St. Paul Island, and the tip 

 of the second digit of the left hind flipper from 

 2,503 pups on St. George Island (fig. 13). 



The advantages of marking without tagging 

 are several: It is done quickly, and effort can 

 be easily distributed throughout the rookeries. 

 In addition, we believe that mortality from 

 marking is much less than mortality from 

 tagging because the wound made by marking 

 is open and can drain while healing. We know 

 that fastening tags to seals causes some 

 deaths through infection that cannot drain. 

 Marking without tagging, however, does not 

 permit identification of individuals. 



RECOVERIES 



This section deals with the recovery of tags 

 and other marks from seals taken commer- 



cially in 1966 and includes data on the homing 

 of male seals killed in 1954-66. 



Recoveries in 1966 



Tagged and marked animals taken in 1966 

 were within the length limits for killing untagged 

 seals, except for a few females taken for re- 

 search or killed accidentally during the kill 

 of males. 



In the commercial kill, 4,620 tagged or 

 marked seals were taken. This number in- 

 cluded 4,418 that had been tagged and marked 

 as pups on the Pribilof Islands (table 8). Other 

 marked seals taken (all males ) were 1 72 that had 

 been selected as yearlings and double -tagged 

 on St. Paul Island in previous years (table 9) 

 and 28 tagged on the Commander Islands and 

 2 tagged on Robben Island by Soviet biologists 

 (table A-19), 



Summary of Homing Data 



Data on the tendency of fur seals of both 

 sexes and all ages to return (home) to the 

 rookery or vicinity of birth or to stray to 

 other areas have been included in annual re- 

 ports on fur seals by the Marine Mammal 

 Biological Laboratory since 1955, The data 

 given in this section form a summary of that 

 collected on the Pribilof Islands in past years 

 for males seals in ages 2 to 5 only. Homing 

 and straying were determined from the re- 

 capture of seals that were tagged as pups and 

 taken during a season that varied in length 

 within the period 27 June to 20 August. 



Most male seals 2 to 5 years old return to 

 hauling grounds on the Pribilof Islands during 

 the summer (mid-June to mid-August and 

 later). The size and accessibility of a hauling 



Table 8. --Summary oi tagged and lost-tag— seals recovered, by age and 

 sex, Pribilof Islands, Alaska. 6 July to 5 August 1966 



1/ Seals that had lost their tags were identified from checkn 

 plied at the time of tagging. 



rks ap- 



