We saw considerable numbers of seals in the 

 Bering Sea along and outside the Continental 

 Shelf from Unalaska Island east to Unimak 

 Pass fronn 1 to 1 5 August. 



The following surveys are not shown on any 

 of the figures: 



Date 



Distance 

 Km. (Miles) 



Direction and locality 



Seals 

 seen 



Number 



Aug 

 12 

 15 



64 (40) St. Paul to St. George 20 



55 (30) 56 km. (30 miles) south of 93 

 St. George to 1 1 1 km. (60 

 miles) northwest of Cape 

 Cheerful, Unalaska Island 

 (Just off the Continental 

 Shelf between Pribilof Is- 

 lands and feeding grounds 

 near eastern Aleutian Is- 

 lands) 



18 230 (124) Along Continental Shelf be- 23 



tween Sanak Island and 

 Shumagin Islands 



19 185 (100) Past Chirlkof Island 5 



20 148 (80) Toward town of Kodiak 8 



22 185 (100) Eastward from Kodiak 



23 222 (120) Southeastward in Gulf of 



Alaska 



24 185 (100) 137 km. (74 miles) west 1 



of Cape Edgecumbe 



ABUNDANCE 



The numbers of seals sighted, collected, 

 wounded and lost, and killed and lost were 

 1,078, 374, 39, and 26 off Washington and 1,509, 

 456, 27, and 78 in Alaska waters. Tables C-12 

 and C-13 give numbers and percentages of 

 seals in these categories for 1958-68. 



Tables C-14 to C-17 show the number of 

 seals seen and collected off Washington and in 

 Alaska waters in relation to effort by 10-day 

 periods. 



Seals were seen in groups of one to nine 

 animals off Washington (table C-18) and in 

 groups of one to five in Alaska waters (table 

 C-19). Seals travel alone more frequently in the 

 spring and summer in Alaska waters than in 

 winter off Washington. 



Incomplete data on six seals taken in Alaska 

 waters are not included in any of the following 

 tables. 



AGE AND SEX 



Seals collected at sea are considered to have 

 passed into the next higher age group on 1 

 January (Standing Scientific Committee of the 

 North Pacific Fur Seal Commission, 1963). 

 The ages of seals collected in November and 

 December 1967, however, were increased 1 



year to permit comparisons with seals taken 

 after 1 January 1968. Thus, seals of the same 

 year class were given the same age in all 

 tables in this report. 



Table 42 gives the age and sex of seals 

 collected off Washingtonand Alaska in 1967-68. 

 About 50 percent of the females killed were 

 from 1 to 7 years old. 



Seventy-four yearling seals (1967 year class) 

 were collected January- February 1968 for con- 

 tinuing studies of these animals during their 

 first year of life, a period when fur seals suf- 

 fer the greatest mortality. For example, gen- 

 eral body condition was appraised by measur- 

 ing the subcutaneous layers of fat at their 

 thickest points over the sternum and ventral 

 to the pelvic region (table C-20). Additional in- 

 formation on these yearlings is given else- 

 where in this report. 



TAG RECOVERIES 



In 1968, we took 7 males in ages 2 to 16 

 years and 31 females between the ages of 1 

 and 16 years that had tags or other marks 

 (table 43). No Soviet tags were found attached 

 to seals collected in 1968. 



LENGTHS AND WEIGHTS 



Mean lengths and weights are given for 

 pregnant, post partum, and nonpregnant fe- 

 males collected in 1967-68 in tables C-21 to 

 C-26, and for males in tables C-27 andC-28. 



Sex, length, and weight were not determined 

 for two very small embryos, and the data have 

 not yet been obtained for 17 fetuses on loan. 

 Crown rump rather than total length measur- 

 ments were taken from 24 male and 33 female 

 fetuses because of their small size, and these 

 fetuses were weighed in the laboratory rather 

 than at sea because accurate weights could not 

 be obtained on a rolling and pitching vessel. 

 Table C-29 gives crown-rump length and 

 weight after preservation in formalin. 



Table C-30 shows measurennents of total 

 length and of the weightof unpreservedfetuses. 



REPRODUCTION 



Table C-31 shows the reproductive condi- 

 tion of female seals collected by month in 

 1967-68. Five primiparous 4-year-olds were 

 the youngest and one multiparous 21-year-old 

 was the oldest among pregnant seals collected 

 in 1967-68. 



The pregnancy rates of fur seals collected 

 in the eastern Pacific Ocean from 1958 to 

 1966 were tested to see if they differed by area 

 and year of collection. The largest numbers of 

 seals were collected off California (36.5 per- 

 cent) and in the Bering Sea (28.4 percent). 



45 



