Captures employing this technique have been made in the Pribilof 

 Islands from about 20 June to 15 July. Later captures are possible, but 

 after mid-July new births are very infrequent and do not commonly 

 occur on the inland edges of the rookery as they do earlier in the sea- 

 son. Mothers with newborn pups are preferable for several reasons: 

 1) the mother/pup bond appears to be strongest 1 to 3 d after parturi- 

 tion. In this period mothers are least likely to run to the water as 

 humans approach, or to abandon their pups upon being released after 

 the capture. 2) Strong pup attachments occur almost simultaneously 

 among the female population because of close synchrony in the tim- 

 ing of births. Therefore the entire rookery is less sensitive to human 

 presence when newborns are available. 3) Newborn pups offer little 

 resistance to capture. 4) Mother and newborn pup are usually physi- 

 cally close to each other so that pairs are easy to recognize. 5) The 

 date of parturition is known if needed. 



Equipment for this type of capture consists of one bamboo pole 3 

 to 4 m long for defense against males, one 5 m long choker of fir for 

 the female, and one 5 m long choker of bamboo and light cord for the 

 pup. Transport boxes, hold-down bars, or marking equipment are 

 used as appropriate, but these are left at some distance back from the 

 edge of the rookery. 



The keys to a successful approach are moving slowly and main- 

 taining a low profile. Voices must be kept low, and equipment not 

 allowed to bang or rattle on the rocks. Keep all equipment low to the 

 ground or disturbances will result. Only two persons are needed for 

 this type of capture, and they should approach the back edge of the 

 rookery carefully. Within 10 m of the closest females they sit down 

 and continue moving on hands and feet (spider fashion), sitting 

 between moves. If there are many threatening males, move on hands 

 and knees, or "duck-walk" in preparation for defense against males. 



Patience during the approach phase of the capture is often reward- 

 ing. We typically spend more time approaching and waiting for the 

 female to make a favorable move than at any other part of the capture 

 routine. A few minutes spent in an uncomfortable position on the 

 rocks surrounded by large males causes apprehension, but waiting is 

 preferable to hurrying the capture, or making a frantic lunge which 

 can defeat the entire effort or cause a major disturbance. 



Selecting the pair to be captured is more difficult than it sounds. 

 New pups are best identified by the condition of the placenta; it will 

 remain bright red and bloody for 24 h. The umbilicus remains pink 

 and wet-looking for 48 h. Mere presence of a placenta does not indi- 

 cate new births since a dry, black placenta may be dragged about for 6 

 or 7 d. Age is more difficult to identify in the rain since the umbilicus 

 remains clean and wet looking longer than on a dry rookery. Some- 

 times the pup must be noosed and turned onto its back with a choker 

 before the condition of the umbilicus can be seen. The mothers reluc- 

 tance to leave a pup is a good but imperfect indicator that the pup is 

 new. Some solicitous females remain with their pups for 6 or 7 d after 

 birth. Regardless of the age of the pup, do not attempt to capture 

 females that abandon their pups and flee: fleeing females cause a 

 great disturbance. Once the pair is selected for capture the workers 

 should keep close watch on both members of the pair to avoid captur- 

 ing the wrong partners. 



The pup should be noosed first before the mother moves it. The 

 lightweight noose is dropped over the pup's head and the pole is 

 rotated until the rope is tight. Whenever a choker is used, raise it in 

 the air just high enough to clear the animal's head: a waving choker 

 alarms all the animals. Do not stand up while placing the choker; 

 place it from a sitting, kneeling, or squatting position. Always move 

 the choker slowly, and do not make rapid thrusts at an escaping ani- 

 mal. When the pup choker is loosely in place the pole may be placed 

 on the ground and the pup ignored until the mother is noosed. 



The technique used to noose the mother depends on her behavioral 

 tendencies. The easiest case is when the female is relatively fearless 

 and is on the edge of the group of animals. In this situation let the 

 choker lie on the ground beside the female. When she turns her head 

 away from the choker, lift it just enough to drop the loop over her 

 head from behind and tighten by twisting the choker pole. The rope 

 should not be allowed to wrap around the pole as it is twisted, but 

 should form a twist off the end of the pole just under the chin 

 (Fig. 10). Since the seal's head is narrower than its neck the loop must 

 be twisted very tight— so tight that a fold of fur is caught in the 

 twisted rope. Work quickly but without sudden jerks that alarm the 

 female. Give the choker a trial pull to observe whether it is tight 

 enough. 



Figure 10.— Illustration showing the placement of a choker (A) too high on the 

 neck, (B) correctly, and (C) too low. The same placement is appropriate for 

 both juvenile males (shown here) and for females. 



If the female is wary and ducks away from being noosed other 

 measures are required. First, slowly draw the pup away from the 

 female a meter or so. If the pup is moved too far from the mother she 

 may not come out of the group to retrieve it. If the pup is not moved 

 far enough she may seize it in her teeth and start back with it before 

 the noose can be placed over her head. This can result in an unwanted 

 tug-of-war with the pup in the center. If this occurs allow as much 

 slack on the choker as possible and induce the female to release her 

 hold on the pup. As an alternative to drawing the pup out, agitate it by 

 moving it forward and back, or side to side using the choker Moving 

 the pup. or drawing it out keeps the female's attention on the pup and 

 away from the workers or the choker. Drawing the female out, if it 

 works, also reduces the disturbance to other females. 



If a female is wary of the choker and will not follow her pup out of 

 the group, move the pup close to the mother and lay the open loop of 

 the female's choker on the pup's back. Then when the female touches 

 the pup's back with her nose, which they often do, lift the loop over 

 her head. 



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