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Population Dynamic? and Inter-atoll Movement 
, ■ of the Hawaiian Monk Seal 
William 0. Wirtz, II 
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abstract 
Kon. .eal. were .agg.d and canausad in tda Laanard Havailana batvaan 
,abiuary 19 M'and-duly‘1963. Koat of iha uorK »a^ ^al Kuia 
up^ ' 
A total ot (fn~s&&ls was tag g^ _ 
^ubadult^nd adult, indiyid- 
Ta^ F T dult mortality -Is-a^i^ly low. Numbers of seals on the beach 
1 1 a nnlv 107 of the total tagged seals were^obsei^ed 
fluctuate irregularly. Cmly__lUA--— 
Annroximately 47% of the seals observed in a given month 
per cei ^sus » Approximately h//o 
- T -imited inter-atoll movements of 
were not seen in the previous month. Limited m 
nP ao 300 .ilaa ana doou.a„tad. Tha aiaa of fha population utiliaing a 
given island at a given time may be from two to ten times the num 
counted on the beach. ^ 
INTRODUCTION 
yu 
r. distribution to siK atolls in the Laa»atd Atohipalago of tba Hawaiian , 
The Hawaiian .onU seal, Monaohus scbauln^. is rastriotad in its 
/vL 
islands. Tha total population da-prasantly astimatad at 1350 individuals 
•dica, 4960). Bacausa of tha inaccassibility of its natural habitat 
llativaly Uttla has baan publishad toncarning tha biology and aaology 
of this species* 
Tha pacific Ocaan Biological Survey Program of tha Smithsonian 
institution began tagging monh seals in early 1963 a. one aspect of an 
ecological su^ay of tha Leewards. Bdtwe-an'septamber 1963 and August 
