overlooked checkmarks in that year were not 

 separated as to "V" notch or slice. Carcasses 

 were first re-examined on St. George Island 

 in 1962. 



Table 23 shows the results of a preliminary 

 check on the number of tagged seals that are 

 without checkmarks. A larger sample will be 

 examined in 1963 to determine the significance 

 of this factor in inflation of population esti- 

 mates. 



Results of Double Tagging 



Tag loss estimated from double tagging 

 increased from 0.19 in 1961 to 0.34 in 1962. 

 Tag loss estimated from the recovery of 

 checkmarks and tags from 4-year-old males 

 tagged with only one tag was about the same 

 as the estimate from recovery of double 

 tags — 0.34 compared to 0.37. 



Homing Tendency 



Homing tendency of tagged male and female 

 seals is shown in table 24 by age and in table 

 25 by rookery. 



One hundred and fifty-seven of the five 

 thousand pups double tagged in 1958 were 

 examined during the 1962 kill. The tag re- 

 covery data are as follows: 



Number 



71 



85 

 1 



Condition 



No loss of tags 

 Loss of one tag 

 Loss of two tags 



MORTALITY 



Mortality among fur seals is considered in 

 two phases, land and ocean. Including both 

 phases, up to 85 percent of the pups born 

 each year are lost prior to reaching age 3. 

 Land mortality, which is measured through 

 annual counts of the dead pups on all rookeries 

 accounts for about one-quarter of the deaths. 



TABLE 22. — Checkmarks overlooked compared to the checkmarks available, 

 male seals, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1961-62 



TABLE 23. — Tagged male and female seals without checkmarks, St. Paul Island, 



1962 



Checkmark 

 type 



Tagged seals examined 



Tagged seals without 

 checkmarks 



"V" notch 

 Slice 



Number 

 91 



66 



Number 

 6 



Percent 

 6.6 



3.0 



34 



