Table 13. — Kfeans of the weights of living seal pups, Robben and Bering Islands, 



U.S.S.R,, 1968 



K 



K 



K 



were 0.7 kg, heavier (0.025< P<0,05) than un- 

 tagged males on St. Paul Island. Untagged fe- 

 males on Robben Island, however, were only 

 0.2 kg. heavier (0.40<P< 0,20) than untagged 



females on St. Paul Island. Tagged pups on 

 Robben Island weighed less than untagged pups, 

 a fact that agrees with data collected on St. 

 Paul Island in earlier years. 



MARKING 



Recoveries of permanently marked seals 

 provided data for making population estimates 

 and for studying growth, mortality, and dis- 

 tribution of seals at sea. The application of 

 marks in 1968 and the recovery of seals 

 marked in previous years are discussed in this 

 section. Most permanent marks are currently 

 made by tagging and by removing parts of 

 flippers. 



APPLICATION OF MARKS 



Monel cattle-ear tags have been used to 

 mark seals on the Pribilof Islands since 1941, 

 Table A-24 shows records of pups marked 

 by tagging or by removing parts of flippers 

 since 1959, and table A-25 gives similar data 

 on male seals (yearlings and 2-year-olds) 

 marked by tagging since 1961. 



Pups 



Single U-series tags were attached to 9,200 

 pups on St. Paul Island (table A-26) and to 

 2,475 pups on St. George Island (table A-27). 

 Each tag was attached to the rear edge of a 

 left front flipper at the hairline, and the tip of 

 the sanne flipper was removed as a checkmark 

 (fig. 9). A checkmark applied at the time of 

 tagging enables us to identify the year of birth 

 of any seals that lose their tags. 



DIGITS 



FRONT FLIPPER 

 TAGS CLINCHED AT THE HAIRLINE AND BETWEEN THE FOURTH 

 AND THE FIFTH DIGIT 

 MARKS MADE BY CUTTING A V-NOTCH AND REMOVING THE TIP 



HIND FLIPPER 

 MARK MADE BY REMOVING THE TIP OF THE FIRST DIGIT 



Figure 9.— Examples of mark locations that have been 

 used on fur seals, Pribilof Islands, Alaska. 



Yearling Male Seals 



A total of 714 males were marked as year- 

 lings on St. Paul Island in 1968. Two lU-series 



13 



