The fur seal commonly swallows whole small 

 fish and squids without coming to the surface 

 but eats large fish at the surface. It is pri- 

 marily a night and early morning feeder. 



The area immediately north of the Aleutian 

 Islands between Unimak Pass and Bogoslof 

 Island, Unimak Pass, and the western Alaska 

 area south of Unimak Pass form what is 

 probably one of the major summer and fall 

 feeding areas of the Pribilof fur seal herd. 



The stomachs of seals collected near the 

 Pribilof Islands usually contained less food 

 than those collected from the areas near the 

 Aleutians. The stomachs of 1,486 seals were 

 examined. Major food items by areas were 

 as follows: western Alaska, squids, Mallotus, 

 and Ammodytes; Unimak Pass, Mallotus and 

 Pleurogrammtis; Bering Sea, Mallotus; squids, 

 and Mallotus, combined area totals, Mallotus, 

 squids, and Theragra. Mallotus, Theragra, and 

 squids are reported as major food items in 

 these areas since 1896. 



Salmon (Oncorhynchus) were found in 18 of 

 the 1,486 stomachs examined. By frequency of 

 occurrence it comprised 1.2 percent of the 

 food, and by volume it comprised 2.6 percent 

 of the food. Salmon were identified in seal 

 stomachs from western Alaska and the Bering 

 Sea; only one occurrence was noted in Unimak 

 Pass. 



LITERATURE CITED 



BERRY, S. S. 



1912. A review of the cephalopods of west- 

 ern North America. Bulletin, [U.S.] 

 Bureau of Fisheries, vol. 32, p. 257- 

 362. 



CLEMENS, W. A., and G. V. WILBY. 



1961. Fishes of the Pacific coast of Can- 

 ada. 2d ed. Fisheries Research Board 

 of Canada, Bulletin No. 68, 368 p. 



EVERMANN, BARTON WARREN, and ED- 

 MUND LEE GOLDSBOROUGH. 

 1906. The fishes of Alaska. [U.S.] Bureau 

 of Fisheries Document No. 624, p. 219- 

 360, pi. 23 to 42. 



KENYON, KARL W. 



1956. Food of fur seals taken on St. Paul 

 Island, Alaska, 1954. Journal of Wild- 

 life Management, vol. 20, no. 2, p. 

 214-215. 



LUCAS, F. A. 



1899. The food of the northern fur seals. 

 In the fur seals and fur-seal islands 

 of the North Pacific Ocean, part 3, 

 p. 59-68. U.S. Treasury Department 

 Document 2017. 



Mallotus were the most important single 

 food item, comprising over 50 percent of the 

 total food by volume. They were found through 

 the three subareas from May to October. 



Theragra were of major importance in the 

 Bering Sea and were found throughout the 

 season. 



Squids were a major food in western Alaska 

 and the Bering Sea, and were the second most 

 important food for the combined areas. The 

 squids Gonatus fabricii, G. magister, and Gonatop- 

 sis sp. were identified. 



MURIE, OLAUS J., and VICTOR B. SCHEF- 

 FER. 

 1959. Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and 

 Alaska Peninsula. U.S. Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, North American Fauna No. 

 61, 406 p. 



SASAKI, MADOKA. 



1929. A monograph of the dibranchiate 

 cephalopods of the Japanese and adjacent 

 waters. Jour. Faculty of Agriculture, 

 Hokkaido Imperial University, Sapporo, 

 vol. 20, suppl. 357 p., 30 pis. 



Seal stomachs in 1962 contained salmon and 

 walleye pollock (Theragra), which are fished 

 commercially in this region. 



SCHEFFER, VICTOR B. 



1950. Growth layers on the teeth of Pinni- 

 pedia as an indication of age. Science, 



58 



