Figure 30. — Number of seals seen per hour of effort, in each square (areal unit) occupied by a research vessel in 

 January 1966, off California. The sides of each square measure 18.52 km. (10 nautical miles). See table C-1. 



seals observed April to June 1965 were single 

 animals (Fiscus and Kajimura, 1967). The re- 

 maining percentages in all 3 years included 

 groups of 2 to 20 seals. 



Of 2,704 seals sighted in 1966, 444 were 

 collected, 78 were wounded and lost, and 67 

 were killed and lost. 



DISTRIBUTION BY AGE AND SEX 



The age and sex of seals taken off California 

 in 1966 are shown by month in table 47. More 

 females age 8 and younger and fewer females 



age 9 and older were taken in 1966 than in 1961 

 (North Pacific Fur Seal Commission, 1965). 

 This difference may reflect the kill of adult 

 females age 10 and older on the Pribilof 

 Islands in 1956-63 (Roppel, Johnson, Anas, and 

 Chapman, 1965), rather than an actual change 

 in distribution by age. 



The age and sex of seals collected off Cali- 

 fornia in January to June since 1958 are shown 

 in table 48. Females 5 years old or older were 

 dominant in the area in all months, although 

 their numbers decreased by late March, when 

 they began to n-iigrate northward. Departure of 

 the older females had the effect of increasing 



56 



