The crossing in June was the first made 

 in that month by biologists concentrating on 

 fur seal observations. Of 82 seals sighted, 

 44 were seen during the first and last days 

 when the vessels were within 75 to 100 miles 

 of land. Offshore distribution of seals ap- 

 peared uneven; however, weather conditions, 

 which varied considerably, had a direct bear- 

 ing on the number of seals sighted. 



Kenyon and Wilke (1953) indicated that the 

 fur seal is widely scattered in the eastern 

 North Pacific in June. Pike, Spalding, Mac- 

 Askie, and Craig' state that "seals are nu- 

 merous and widely dispersed throughout the 

 eastern North Pacific during the months of 

 April, May, June, and July." Their report is 

 based on sightings by biologists aboard Cana- 

 dian salmon research vessels, in the area 

 north of lat. 45° N. and east of long. 160° W. 

 The results of June 1963 observations in the 

 same area confirm and supplement their data. 



The northward movement of large numbers 

 of fur seals in the late spring and early sum- 

 mer along the coast past Vancouver Island 

 and Sitka, and westward past Middleton Island, 

 Kodiak, the Shumagin Islands, and into the 

 Bering Sea is well known and has been de- 

 scribed by Kenyon and Wilke (1953) and by 

 Townsend (1899). 



The movement of fur seals in the offshore 

 areas of the eastern North Pacific is not as 

 well understood. Further investigations may 

 show that much of the eastern North Pacific 

 fur seal herd will be found far from land 

 during the northward migration. Available in- 

 formation is not adequate to show whether 

 the number of animals in offshore areas varies 

 from year to year according to the abundance 

 of food species and other ocean conditions. 



Distribution by area .--A study of the dis- 

 tribution, abundance, and food habits of fur 

 seals on their summer range in the Bering 

 Sea was carried out from 1 July to 5 Septem- 

 ber 1963. To aid in the analysis of data, the 

 eastern Bering Sea (fig. 2) was divided into 

 six major sectors centered between St. Paul 

 and St. George Islands. The sectors were then 

 divided into zones, each 30 nautical miles 

 wide and extending to the sector boundaries. 

 Sectors are numbered from 1 to 6, zones from 

 1 to 9. Sector and zone numbers are used in 

 combinations, as, for example: 1-7. The first 

 number represents the sector, the second, 

 the zone. The shaded portion of figure 2 repre- 

 sents the area actually surveyed in 1963. The 

 numbers in each zone give, from left to right, 

 (1) the number of boat-hunting days* (spent in 



' G. C. Pike, D. J. Spalding, I. B. MacAskie, and A. 

 Craig. Report on Canadian pelagic fur seal research in 

 1962. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Biological 

 Station, Nanalmo, B. C. (Manuscript report.) 



* A boat-hunting day is a day In which a vessel is used 

 to collect or observe seals for 8 hours or more; units of 

 boat-hunting days are 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00. 



the zone), (2) the total number of seals seen 

 ( in the zone), and (3) the totalnumber of seals 

 collected (in the zone). 



Because the sectors in zone 1 were small, 

 they were consolidated; the numbers shown 

 represent all effort in zone 1 regardless of 

 sector. More hunting was done in sector 1, 

 zones 4 to 8, than in other areas (fig, 2), be- 

 cause of various reasons. (1) The vessels had 

 to return from the Pribilof locality to Dutch 

 Harbor, Unalaska Island, for fuel and water 

 at monthly intervals. On these trips, routine 

 hunting procedures were followed. (2) The 

 sea immediately north of the eastern Aleutians 

 (Fox Island group) in zone 7 is an important 

 feeding ground for fur seals. Periodic surveys 

 begun in this locality in 1962 were continued 

 in 1963. (3) Convention obligations required 

 the United States to collect a specified number 

 of seals at sea each year. To fulfill this 

 obligation, a large sample was collected 

 in U7. 



Based on collecting effort, distribution of 

 seals in the first three zones of sectors 

 1 through 6 appear uniform. Concentrations 

 of seals were located in 1-4, 4-4, and 5-4. 

 Except in sector 1, relatively little time was 

 spent in the outer zones. A study of the dis- 

 tribution of seals in the outer zones is planned 

 for 1964. Fewer fur seals were found to fre- 

 quent sector-zone 1-7 in 1963 than in 1962, 

 and the most heavily used feeding locality 

 had shifted from north of Akun Island and Uni- 

 mak Pass in 1962 to north of Cape Cheerful, 

 Unalaska Island in 1963. 



Generally, the principal movement of seals 

 in the Bering Sea during late summer and 

 early fall is between the Pribilof Islands and 

 the feeding grounds. The seals found within a 

 few miles of the islands display two general 

 types of behavior. Some rest while others 

 travel rapidly in the same general direction. 

 If disturbed, resting seals usually do not 

 travel far before resuming rest. Traveling 

 seals, if distracted, may change direction, but 

 usually resume their original course after 

 the danger is past. Seals behaving in this 

 manner presumably are traveling to or return- 

 ing from feeding areas. 



Most animals appeared to travel into zone 3 

 and beyond before they did any appreciable 

 amount of feeding. In 1962 and 1963, many 

 feeding seals were found in sector- zone 1-7. 

 In 1962, a few seals had passed throughUnimak 

 Pass and into sector-zone 1-9 to feed. Feeding 

 areas were located in almost all directions 

 from the Pribilof Islands in 1963. Seals in 

 these areas may be feeding or resting. Feeding 

 areas shift in location from year to year with 

 variation in abundance of food species. 



Numbers .- -The number and relative abund- 

 ance of seals seen and collected is shown by 

 10-day periods in appendix A, tables 1 and 2. 

 Variation between 1 0-day periods in numbers 



