Robben Island were significantly heavier than 

 untagged males on St. Paul Island, and tagged 

 pups on both islands weighedless than untagged 

 pups. 



Single U-series tags were attached to the 

 right front flippers and the tip of the same 

 flipper was removed as a checkmark on 

 9,200 pups regardless of sex on St. Paul Island 

 and on 2,475 on St. George Island. 



A total of 714 males were double-tagged as 

 yearlings on St. Paul Island with lU-series 

 tags. 



A total of 1,495 males known or believed to 

 be 2 years old were double-tagged on St. Paul 

 Island with 2U-series tags. 



Seals marked on St. Paul and St. George 

 Islands in previous years and recovered there 

 in 1968 included 3,907 that had been single- 

 tagged or marked as pups and 1,197 that had 

 been double-tagged at age 1 or older. Thirty- 

 nine seals tagged as pups by Soviet biologists 

 were killed on the Pribilof Islands in 1968. 



Most tag loss apparently occurs soon after 

 tagging, and the probability of loss becomes 

 less thereafter. 



The recovery rate for tags applied to pups 

 in September has been significantly higher 

 than that for tags applied to pups in August. 



Marked pups apparently have a higher sur- 

 vival rate than tagged and checkmarked pups; 

 the rate of recovery for males given a mark 

 in 1965 and recovered at age 3 in 1968 was 

 1.17 tinnes that of animals given a tag and a 

 checkmark. 



According to recoveries of marked seals, 

 the total number of pups born on the Pribilof 

 Islands has decreased each year from 643,000 



in 1960 to 397,000 in 1965. The latter estimate 

 is similar to one of 350,000 obtained for the 

 1965 year class from shearing and sampling. 



Estimates of the number of yearling males 

 from all recoveries of marked seals for several 

 year classes are 82,000 (1961), 79,000 (1962), 

 115,000 (1964), and 80,000 (1965), 



Recoveries of marked seals yielded esti- 

 mates of 25,000 3-year-old males from the 

 1963 year class and 70,000 2-year-old males 

 from the 1964 year class still living after the 

 kill in 1966. 



The predicted kill of males on the Pribilof 

 Islands in 1968 included 4,500 of ages 2 and 

 5, 28,000 of age 3, and 17,000 of age 4. Actual 

 kills were 4,054 of ages 2 and 5, 23,149 of 

 age 3, and 16,959 of age 4. 



A forecast of the kill on the Pribilof Islands 

 in 1969 includes 4,200 of ages 2 and 5, 29,500 

 of age 3, and 22,900 of age 4. 



Young males (ages 2-5) tagged and recovered 

 on St. Paul Island in 1968 provided information 

 on the movements of these animals. Seals 

 tagged in June were recovered at a greater 

 rate than were seals tagged in July, and the 

 rate for seals tagged on hauling grounds in- 

 accessible to the kill was low compared to the 

 rate for seals tagged on accessible hauling 

 grounds. 



Radio transmitters were attached to five 

 seals on St. George Island in 1967 and to five 

 on St. Paul Island in 1968. The longest trans- 

 mission was 9 days. 



More than half of 1 00 adult males from haul- 

 ing grounds were age 9 or less. Most adult 

 males on rookeries are age 10 or older. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The research in 1968 was completed with 

 the cooperation of C. Howard Baltzo, Program 

 Director; Bertel W, Johnson, Management 

 Staff Officer; Richard A, Hajny, Wildlife Man- 

 agement Biologist; Harold Thayer, Program 

 Construction Supervisor; Victor Misiken, Vil- 

 lage Foreman; Alex Melovidov, Sealer Fore- 



man; Lee Paola, Superintendent, Oregon- 

 Alaska Marine Products; and Tikhon Stepetin, 

 President, St. Paul Island Community Council. 

 Kazumoto Yoshida from the Japanese Fish- 

 ery Agency observed fur seal research on the 

 Pribilof Islands from 3 to 25 July. 



GLOSSARY 



The following terms used in fur seal research 

 and management on the Pribilof Islands have 

 special meanings or are not readily found in 

 standard dictionaries. 



Checkmark A notch, slit, hole, or other mark 

 made on a seal flipper when a tag is 

 applied, to ensure later recognition of an 

 animal that has lost its tag. See mark and 

 lost tag. 



Drive The act of surrounding and moving 

 groups of seals on land from one location 

 to another. 



Escapement Seals that were not killed be- 

 cause they were too old, too large, or 

 were not available. 



Female kill That part of the annual harvest 

 devoted principally to the kill of female 

 seals, usually in August. See male kill. 



32 



