FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY. 



87 



BRANDED SEALS. 



FoUowino; the practice of previous years, there were killed on both 

 St. Paul and St. Georj^e Islands in 1919 a number of the fur seals 

 which had been branded when pups in 1912. The data obtained 

 from year to year have been invaluable and are, of course, made more 

 complete with the records of each succeedino: year. The great value 

 of the data lies in the fact that they are obtained from seals of known 

 ages. The animals bearing the brand pkced on pups in 1912 are 

 the only ones which it has been possible to follow in a scientific way 

 from year to year. 



The animals were, of course, 7 years old in 1919. On St. Paul 

 Island 11 \yere killed, on St. George Island 15. The following table 

 gives certain information derived from tliem: 



Records of Branded 7-Year-Old Male Fur Seals Killed on Pribilof Islands, 



Calendar Year 1919. 



a Seals were bled before bi'ing weighed. 



Information in regard to the branded seals previous to 1919 may 

 })o obtained from preceding re])orts of the Alaska Fislieries and Fur 

 Industries. It should be stated in this connection that an osteologic 

 study of these branded seals is being made by Dr. G. Dallas Hanna. 



age CLAS.SES OF SEALS. 



Determination of the ages of seals killed is based on dnta derived 

 from measuiements of seals of known ages. The seals whose age was 

 definitely known were those branded in 1912, of which a number 

 hav(^ be(!n killed from year to year. For practical purposes on the 

 killing fi(!lds the length of the animal determines the ago class into 

 wliich it is placed, the length being the distance from the end of the 



