Island. The pattern of the 1962 kiU followed 

 that of years before 1960 and 1961. In 1960 

 and 1961, 83 and 72 percent of the- kill on 

 St. Paul Island was comprised of 3-year-old 

 seals. This followed the general rule that kills 

 which draw on a relatively strong 3-year-old 

 class and are continued to 10 August or later 

 will have a peak later than round 6 (22-26 July). 



Several occurrences during the 1962 male 

 kill pointed to the influence of weather on the 

 seals in their choice of when and where to 

 haul out. For example, the number (4,347) 

 of males killed during round 7 (27-31 July) 

 seemed abruptly low compared to the kill of 

 8,577 in round 6, although the latter was 

 assumed to be the peak at the time. Therefore, 

 part of the reduction was tentatively attributed 

 to an unusually severe and prolonged summer 

 storm which lasted from 27 July through 5 

 August. This assumption was proved correct 

 when the Tolstoi-Zapadni hauling grounds, 

 which were fully exposed to the storm's 

 force, produced 3,238 males in round 8 (1-5 

 August) as compared to only 1,262 animals 

 during round 7 (27-31 July). A total of 3,656 

 males were taken from the Tolstoi-Zapadni 

 hauling grounds during the most productive 

 round, round 6 (22-26 July). 



Additional evidence of the storm's influence 

 was shown by the fact that 2,667 of 3,238 

 males taken from the Tolstoi-Zapadni hauling 



80 



60 



grounds in round 8 were found on a protected 

 beach near Tolstoi Rookery. 



During rounds 2 through 7, an average of 

 69 percent (range 43-90 percent) of the re- 

 turning 3-year-old seals tagged as pups on 

 the Zapadni Rookeries in 1959 were recovered 

 on the Zapadni hauling grounds. In round 8, 

 during the storm, the homing tendency of 3- 

 year-old seals tagged on the Zapadni Rookeries 

 was reduced to 26 percent, a figure 43 percent 

 below the average of preceding rounds. Many 

 of them were taken near Tolstoi Rookery. 



The male kill ended 5 August with a total 

 take on the Pribilof Islands of 49,039. At- 

 tempts to take 4-year-old males during the 

 10-day female kill beginning 13 August added 

 only 837 of this age class to the total, suggest- 

 ing that most males from the 1958 year class 

 had been killed. An additional 3,598 males, 

 made up of 1,303, 2,144, and 151 2-, 3-, and 

 5-year-old seals, respectively, were taken 

 during the female kill ending 24 August. In 

 September 206 unclassified males were killed. 

 Table 1 shows the kill of male seals, by year 

 class, for the years 1947 through 1960. Tables 

 2 and 3 illustrate the male kill at various 

 dates for 1954-62 and cumulative number of 

 males killed from 1955 to 1962, St. Paul 

 Island. The percent cumulative male kill, 

 by round, age, and island is shown in figure 1. 



40 



20 



u 

 o 



a. 



2 3 4 5 



ROUND NUMBERS 



6789 23456789 



Figure 1.— Percent 3- and 4-year -old male seals in cumulative kill, by island and round, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1962. 



