The Role of Juvenile Walleye Pollock As Northern Fur Seal Prey in the Eastern Bering Sea Alaska Fisheries Science Center Quarterly Report : January, Febuary, March, 1995 [feature article]

The Pribilof Islands population of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) is a significant component of the Bering Sea ecosystem with approximately 980,000 animals or 72% of the species' world breeding population. During June through October, the animals haul out on the Pribilof Islands (St. Paul and St. George) in the eastern Bering Sea to give birth and breed; from November to May, the population is pelagic throughout the central and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult male northern fur seals fast during the summer breeding season. Juveniles are pelagic the first few years of their lives and return to the Pribilof Islands only intermittently in the late summer or fall. Adult females give birth to their pups in June and July, then conduct cyclic feeding trips throughout the season which average 2.5 days onshore to nurse their pups and 5.9 days at sea to feed.