Tagging, southern fur seal, South Africa.--R. W. Rand applied disc-like 
tags to the tails of a number of seal pups in 1947 (personal communications), 
The design of the tag was similar to Sivertsen's (fig. 10, a). On the rocky 
Government Guano Islands, however, the tags tore loose rather easily and Rand 
turned to branding as a means of marking. 
Tagging, Steller sea-lion (Eumetopias jubata), Alaska.--(1) In 1946 we 
started an experiment in the use of ear-tags on pinnipeds. Since fur seals 
are too valuable to use in large numbers as experimental subjects where risk 
of mortality is involved, we tagged sea~lions (fig. &). To the best of our 
knowledge there have been no previous attempts to tag or mark sea-lions, Thus 
we believe it advisable to report on the 1946 experiment in some detail. At 
Northeast Point, St. Paul Island, on June 20, we tagged 66 pups. Specifications 
of the tag: . 
q 
Poultry wing-band (Style 893 JIFFY, of National Band and Tag Company, 
Newport, Kentucky); dimensions before folding 0.5 x 5 x 50 mm. (0.020 x 3/16 x 
2 inches; U. S. Gauge 25); weight 1 g.; monel metal; numbered consecutively 
10,001 to 11,000 with numbers 3.5 mm. high; cost 2.4 cents (fig. 9). 
When the rookery was visited on June 20, the mating season was in, or 
just past its peak, and hundreds of adult sea=lions defended the center of the 
pupping ground. Huge bulls weighing a ton or more rushed at the working crew. 
Only those pups that were resting at the margin of the rookery could be 
approached, Some of the pups escaped into the crowd of adults while their 
fellows were being tagged. 

Figure §.--Head of Steller sea-lion pup several weeks 
old, weight about. 50 pounds, St. Paul 
Island, Alaska, June 20, 1946, 
16 
