Table 37. --Number of days between tagging and recovery of tags applied to male seals, St. Paul Island, 



24 June to 18 July 1968 



24 June REEF 



24 June ZAP 



25 June NEP(west) 

 25 June ZAP PT 



2 5 June ARD 



10 July NEP(east) 



11 July TZR 

 18 July REEF 



901-950 



951-1000 



851-900 



776-800 



826-841 



701-750 



651-700 



1001-1042 



and 

 1051-1094 



43 



334 



22 



148 



11 



30 



11 



23 



226 



Percentage of effective tags 



5. 4 



3. 3 



9. 



3. 3 



2. 4 



67,7 



1/ REEF=Reef; ZAP^Zapadni; NEP(west)=west side of Northeast Point; ZAP PT = Zapadni Point; ARD=Ardiguen; 

 NEP(east)=east side of Northeast Point; TZR^Tolstoi-Zapadni Reef. Zapadni Point and Ardiguen are inaccessible 

 areas where seals are not driven and killed. 



2/ Seals were double tagged with paired numbers (651 and 651 on first seal, etc. ). except for 1001-1094 

 which were double tagged with successive nunnbers (1001 and 1002 on first seal, etc. ). 



3/ Does not include one seal tagged on REEF on 24 June and recovered in 1968 (date unknown) on Southeastern 

 Rookery, Medny Island, U.S.S. R. 



Most of the hauling grounds on St, Paul 

 Island are accessible, and seals are regularly 

 driven from them for killing. Hauling grounds 

 near Ardiguen Rookery and at Zapadni Point 

 are exceptions. Seals on these areas are not 

 driven for killing because of overhanging cliffs 

 and are taken only if they stray to an acces- 

 sible hauling ground. This condition was re- 

 flected in relatively low recovery rates of 62 

 percent for seals tagged near Ardiguen Rook- 

 ery and 68 percent at Zapadni Point, 



Zapadni, Reef, Northeast Point, and Tolstoi- 

 Zapadni Reef are examples of rookeries with 

 accessible hauling grounds close by that are 

 driven regularly during the killing season. As 

 expected, the recovery rates for seals tagged 

 in June on Zapadni, Reef, and Northeast 

 Point were much higher than the rates for 

 seals tagged near Ardiguen Rookery and at 

 Zapadni Point. In addition, the recovery rates 

 for seals tagged in June differed from those 

 tagged in July. An overall recovery rate of 

 85 percent (range 84-86) for seals tagged in 



June on the hauling grounds of Zapadni, Reef, 

 and the west side of Northeast Point was higher 

 than the rate (50 percent) for seals tagged in 

 July on the hauling grounds of Reef, Tolstoi- 

 Zapadni Reef, and the east side of Northeast 

 Point (table 38). On the basis of a standard 

 recovery interval of 15 days (the interval 

 between tagging on 18 July and the end of the 

 male kill on 2 August), 57 percent of the seals 

 tagged in June and 43 percent of the seals 

 tagged in July were recovered. In 1968, there- 

 fore, a larger proportion of the males found on 

 land and tagged in June remained available for 

 killing compared to those found on land and 

 tagged in July. 



The interval between tagging and recovery 

 ranged from 1 to 43 days for seals killed in 

 1968 (table 37); each of the 226 seals recap- 

 tured had retained both tags. The four animals 

 killed on St. George Island were taken 20 to 

 26 days after tagging. The largest proportion 

 of recoveries occurred soon after tagging. 

 Fifty percent of the seals that were tagged 



28 



