CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Population 3 



Males 3 



Age classification 3 



Bull counts 8 



Females 9 



Methods used in current studies 11 



Age classification 11 



Reproduction 13 



Tag recoveries and tagging 14 



Tag recoveries 14 



Tagging— pups 15 



Tagging — yearlings 16 



Appraisal of problems involved in tagging and tag recoveries 30 



Results of double tagging 34 



Homing tendency 34 



Mortality 34 



Dead-pup counts 36 



Weather as a mortality factor 40 



Population estimates 40 



Estimates from tagged males 40 



Estimates from tagged females 43 



Estimates of the fall pup population from fall tag ratio 43 



Seal pup weights 46 



Related studies 50 



Live-pup counts 50 



skins from females 50 



Dentition studies 50 



Pelage studies 51 



Eye lens weight as an indicator of age 51 



Hookworm studies 51 



Other wildlife species 52 



Sea lions 52 



Whales 52 



Walrus 52 



Sea otter 52 



Reindeer 52 



Cooperative studies 52 



Summary 53 



Acknowledgments 54 



Glossary 55 



Appendix 



A. Prediction of 1963 male returns and kill 56 



B. Appendix tables 61 



111 



