Table 2. Summary of Antarctic fur seal pup production in the South Shetland
Islands, Antarctica, in 1986/87. .

Location Live Dead Total
Seal Island (Elephant Island) 241 8 + 249
Large Leap Island (Elephant Island) 254 21 275
Cape Valentine (Elephant Island) 42 3 45
Cape Lindsey (Elephant Island) 191 12 : 203
Stinker Point (King George Island) 2 0 2
Stigant Point (King George Island) 145 12 157
Fildes Peninsula (King George Island) 1 0 1
Desolation Island (Livingston Isiand) 1 0 1
Cape Shirreff (Livingston Island) 673 45 718
Telmo Island (Livingston Island) -1,660 215 1,875
Window Island (Livingston Island) 297 0 297
Smith Island 1 0 1

Total 3,508 316 3,824





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OF THE
NORTHEAST FISHERIES CENTER

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resources for the benefit of the Nation.” As the research arm of the NMFS's Northeast Region, the Northeast Fisheries
Center (NEFC) supports the NMFS mission by "planning, developing, and managing multidisciplinary programs of
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describe and provide to management, industry, and the public, options for the utilization and conservation of living
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BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
PB89-141303

Report Nos: NOAA-TM-NMFS~F/NEC-60

Title: Survey of Antarctic Fur Seals in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica,
during the 1986-1987 Austral Summer.

Date: Sep 88

Authors: J. L. Bengtson, L. M. Ferm, T. J. Harkonen, E. G. Schaner, and B. S.
Stewart.

Performing Organization: National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods Hole, MA.
Northeast Fisheries Center.**Goeteborg Univ. (Sweden). Tjarno Marine Biological
Lab.**Hubbs Marine Research Inst., San Diego, CA.

Type of Report and Period Covered: Technical memo.,

Supplementary Notes: Prepared in cooperation with Goeteborg Univ. (Sweden). Tjarno
Marine Biological Lab., and Hubbs Marine Research Inst., San Diego, CA.

NTIS Field/Group Codes: 47D, 572
Price: PC A03/MF AOL

Availability: Available from the National Technical Information Service,
Springfield, VA. 22161

Number of Pages: 19p

Keywords: “Seals (Mammals), *Aquatic animals, Tables(Data), Surveys, Antarctica,
South Shetland Islands, Marine biology, Population growth, *Antarctic fur seals,
Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program, Arctocephalus gazella.

Abstract: A survey of Antarctic fur seals in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica, during the 1986/87 austral summer indicated that this species is
continuing its population recovery and recolonization of rookery sites following
19th Century commercial exploitation. Twelve fur seal pupping sites were
identified, some of which had not previously been reported. The largest pupping
sites are at Telmo Island and Cape Shirreff on the north coast of Livingston
Island. Total fur seal pup production in the South Shetland Islands in 1986/87 is
estimated to be approximately 4000 individuals. Notes on other pinniped species
observed during the survey are presented. The optimal sites for combined fur seal
and penguin monitoring activities, as part of the Commission for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Ecosystem Monitoring Program,’ are
recommended as Seal Island, Elephant Island; Stigant Point, King George Island; and
Cape Shirreff/Telmo Island, Livingston Island.


7

Table 3. Changes in Antarctic fur seal pup production at important rookery
sites in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Sites listed are for those
areas for which there are past census data comparable with the 1986/87 survey.

Location Date Pups? Total@ Source

ELEPHANT ISLAND

Seal Island? 7 Jan 66 0 20 Aguayo, 1978
13 Dec 70 16 62 Hunt, 1973
24-31 Dec 86 249 493 1986/87 survey
Cape Valentine 16 Feb 66 2 30 Aguayo, 1978
9 Feb 71 3 100+ Hunt, 1973
23 Dec 86 45 127 1986/87 survey
Cape Lindsey 16 Feb 66 3 70 Aguayo, 1978
Feb 71 0 30 Hunt, 1973
30 Jan 87 203 468 1986/87 survey

KING GEORGE ISLAND

Stigant Point Jan 66 0 0 Aguayo, 1978
16 Jan 70 123 213 Llano, 1971
Feb 73 80 250 Aguayo, 1978
Jan 82 168 293 Cattan et al., 1982
1982/83 123 367 Oliva et al., 1986
31 Jan 87 157 507 1986/87 survey

LIVINGSTON ISLAND

Cape Shirreff 14 Jan 58 0 27 O'Gorman, 1961
3 Feb 59 2 an] O'Gorman, 1961
1 Jan 66 12 50 Aguayo, 1978
Feb 71 27 201 Aguayo, 1978
25 Jan 73 300 1,741 Aguayo, 1978
Jan 82 180 532 Cattan et al., 1982
1982/83 -- 564 Oliva et al., 1986
1983/84 248 969 Oliva et al., 1986
1984/85 384 1,590 Oliva et al., 1986
2 Feb 87 718 3,148 1986/87 survey
Window Island 21 Jan 66 50 150 Aguayo, 1978
25 Jan 73 70 320 Aguayo, 1978
3 Feb 87 297 646 1986/87 survey

lincludes both living and dead pups.
Total Antarctic fur seals, including pups.

3compares censuses only at the largest of the Seal Islands.


| hy,

(continued from inside front cover)

44, NOAA’s Northeast Monitoring Program (NEMP): A Report on Progress of the First Five Years (1979-84)
and a Plan for the Future. By Robert N. Reid, Merton C. Ingham, and John B. Pearce, eds., and Catherine E. Warsh
(water quality), Robert N. Reid (sediments & bottom organisms), Adriana Y. Cantillo (trace contaminants in tissues),
and Edith Gould (biological effects), topic coords. May 1987. xi + 138 p., 13 figs., 1 table, 9 app. NTIS Access. No.
PB87-210100.

45. Food and Distribution of Juveniles of Seventeen Northwest Atlantic Fish Species, 1973-1976. By Ray E.
Bowman, Thomas R. Azarovitz, Esther S. Howard, and Brian P. Hayden. May 1987. xi + 57 p., 10 figs., 19 tables. NTIS
Access. No. PB87-215851/AS.

46, Influence of Freshwater Inflows on Estuarine Productivity. By James G. Turek, Timothy E. Goodger, Thomas
E. Bigford, and John S. Nichols. May 1987. iii + 26 p. NTIS Access. No. PB87-213666/AS.

47, MARMAP Surveys of the Continental Shelf from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
(1977-1984). Atlas No. 2. Annual Distribution Patterns of Fish Larvae. By Wallace W. Morse, Michael P. Fahay,
and Wallace G. Smith. May 1987. viii + 215 p., 27 figs., 2 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB87-232831/AS.

48. Indexed Bibliography of the Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians). By Barbara D. Sabo (Gibson) and Edwin W.
Rhodes. May 1987. iii + 85 p. NTIS Access. No. PB87-231411/AS.

49. Northeast Fisheries Center Framework for Inshore Research. By Research Planning & Coordination Staff,
Northeast Fisheries Center. July 1987. vi + 44 p., 2 figs., 2 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB87-232286/AS.

SO. Status of the Fishery Resources Off the Northeastern United States for 1987. By Conservation & Utilization
Division, Northeast Fisheries Center. October 1987. iii + 132 p., 48 figs., 50 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB88-148549.
51. An Annotated List of the Fishes of Massachusetts Bay. By Bruce B. Collette and Karsten E. Harte]. February
1988. x + 70 p., 1 fig., 1 table. NTIS Access. No. PB88-179247/AS.

52. An Evaluation of the Bottom Trawl Survey Program of the Northeast Fisheries Center. By Survey Working
Group, Northeast Fisheries Center. March 1988. ix + 83 p., 33 figs., 13 tables. NTIS Access No. PB88-201983/AS.

53. Contaminants in Hudson-Raritan Estuary Water and Influence of Cold Storage upon Its Chemical Compo-
sition. By Anthony Calabrese, Lawrence J, Buckley, and.J. Christopher Powell. May 1988. vii + 37 p., 10 figs., 11
tables. NTIS Access. No. PB88-225628/AS.

54, Epizootic Ulcerative Syndromes in Coastal/Estuarine Fish. By Car] J. Sindermann. June 1988. v + 37 p., 8 figs.,
1 table.

55. A Plan for Study: Response of the Habitat and Biota of the Inner New York Bight to Abatement of Sewage
Sludge Dumping. By Environmental Processes Division, Northeast Fisheries Center. June 1988. iii + 34 p., 5 figs.,
3 tables, 4 app.

56. Characterization of the Middle Atlantic Water Management Unit of the Northeast Regional Action Plan. By
Anthony L. Pacheco, ed. July 1988. v + 322 p., 136 figs., 21 tables.

57. An Analysis and Evaluation of Ichthyoplankton Survey Data from the Northeast Continental Shelf ~
Ecosystem. By Wallace G. Smith, ed. August 1988. xiii + 132 p., 53 figs., 12 tables, 1 app.

58. An Indexed Bibliography of Northeast Fisheries Center Publications and Reports for 1987. By Jon A. Gibson.
August 1988. iii + 20 p.

59. Surveys of Breeding Penguins and Other Seabirds in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, January-
February 1987. By W. David Shuford and Larry B. Spear. September 1988. vii + 27 p., 14 figs., 1 table.


LITERATURE CITED

Aguayo, L. A. 1978. Present status of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus
gazella at South Shetland Islands. Polar Rec. 19:167-173.

Aguayo, L. A., and D. Torres. 1967. Observaciones sobre mamiferos marinos
durante la Vigésima Comision Antartica Chilena. Rev. Biol. Mar. 13:1-57.

Bertrand, K. J. 1971. Americans in Antarctica, 1775-1948. Am. Geogr. Soc.,
New York.

Bonner, W. N. 1968. The fur seal of South Georgia. Sci. Rep. Brit. Antarc.
Surv. 56:1-81. .

Bonner, W. N. 1968. Southern fur seals, Arctocephalus (Geoffroy Saint-
Hilaire and Cuvier, 1826). Pp. 161-208 in S. H. Ridgway and R. J.
Harrison, (Eds.) Handbook of Marine MammaTs, Vol. 1. Academic Press,
London and New York.

Cattan, P. £., J. V. Yanez, D. N. Gajardo, and J. C. Cardenas. 1982. Censo,

marcaje y estructura poblacional del lobo fino antarctico Arctocephalus
gazella (Peters, 1875) en las islas Shetland del Sur, Chive. Publ. INACH
er. Cie. 29:31-38.

Hunt, J. F. 1973. Observations on the seals of Elephant Island, South
Shetland Islands, 1970-71. Brit. Antarc. Surv. Bull. 36:99-104.

Laws, R. M. 1984. Seals. Pp. 621-715 in R. M. Laws, (Ed.) Antarctic
Ecology, Vol. 2, Academic Press, London and New York.

Llano, G. A. 1971. Frontispiece. In W. H. Burt, (Ed.) Antarctic Pinnipedia
Antarctic Research Series, Volume 18. Am. Geophys. Union, Acad. Sci.,
Nat. Res. Counc.

O'Gorman, F. A. 1961. Fur seals breeding in the Falkland Islands
Dependencies. Nature 192:914-916. -

Oliva, D. L., L. R. Duran, D. Torres, and M. Gajardo. 1986. Changes in the
population structure and growth of the fur seal Arctocephalus gazella
(Peters, 1875) in South Shetland Islands. UnpubT. ms.

Payne, M. R. 1977. Growth of a fur seal population. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
Lond. (B:Biol. Sci.) 279:67-79. : :

Stackpole, E. A. 1955. The voyage of the Huron and the Huntress. The Marine
Historical Association, No. 29, Mystic, Conn.



iv

. . ABSTRACT

&— A survey of Antarctic fur seals in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica, during the 1986/87 austral summer indicated that this species is
continuing its population recovery and recolonization of rookery sites
following 19th Century commercial exploitation. Twelve fur seal pupping sites
were identified, some of which had not previously been reported. The largest
pupping sites are at Telmo Island and Cape Shirreff on the north coast of
Livingston Island. Total fur seal pup production in the South Shetland
Islands in 1986/87 is estimated to be approximately 4000 individuals. Notes
on other pinniped species observed during the survey are presented. The
optimal sites for combined fur seal and penguin monitoring activities, as part
of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(CCAMLR) Ecosystem Monitoring Program, are recommended as Seal Island,

Elephant Island; Stigant Point, King George Island; and Cape Shirreff/Telmo
Island, Livingston Island.



NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/NEC-60

This TM series is used for documentation and timely communication of preliminary results,
interim reports, or special purpose information, and has not received complete formal review,
editorial control, or detailed editing.

Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program

Survey of Antarctic Fur Seals
in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica, during the 1986-1987
Austral Summer

John L. Bengtson’, Lisa M. Ferm’, Tero J. Harkonen 2,
Everett G. Schaner®, and Brent S. Stewart*

' National Marine Mammal Lab., National Marine Fisheries Serv., Seattle, WA 98815
? Tjarno Marine Biological Lab., Univ. of Goteborg, Stromstad, Sweden

3 6224 Windsor View Terr., Potomac, MD 20854

4 Hubbs Marine Research Ctr., San Diego, CA 92109

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
C. William Verity, Secretary

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
William E. Evans, Administrator

National Marine Fisheries Service
James W. Brennan, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries

Northeast Fisheries Center
Woods Hole, Massachusetts

September 1988




Table 1. Pinniped census in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, during
the 1986/87 austral summer (E=elephant seal, W=Weddell seal, C=crabeater seal,
L=leopard seal).

Pups :
Location Male Female ve ea E W c L

King George Island 3,339 147 “146 12 3,599 456 2 1
Nelson Island 173 0 0 0 403 362 1 1
Robert Island 194 0 0 0 353 141 0 2
Greenwich Island 235 0 o . 0 423 40 0 0
Livingston Island 1,974 129 298 0 4,898 264 1 1

Cape Shirreff 1,586 844 673 45 885 134 1 0

Telmo Island 1,607 2,299 1,660 215 3 3 0 0
Snow Island 652 0 0 0 1,494 157 5 0
Smith Island 105 2 1 0 0 8 oO 0
Low Island 418 0 0 ie) 251 34 0 0
Deception Island 520 0 0 0 , 3 48 1 0
Elephant Island 158 191 235 15 1,315 0 21 4

Seal Island 66 178 | 241 8 232 4 1 3

Large Leap Island 73 167 254 21 0 0 0 0

Total 11,100 3,957 3,508 316 «13,859 1,651 33 12



PROGRAM STATEMENT

The U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Program supports U.S.
policy regarding the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources (CCAMLR). The CCAMLR is an international agreement that
supports an ecosystem approach to the conservation and management of living
resources found in ocean areas surrounding the continent of Antarctica. The
Convention mandates a management regime committed to applying measures to
ensure that harvesting of Antarctic marine living resources, such as finfish
and krill, is conducted in a manner that considers ecological relationships
among dependent and related species. Member countries of CCAMLR are:
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, European Economic Community,
France, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, India, Japan,
Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain, USSR, United Kingdom,
and United States.

U.S. objectives for the CCAMLR were established with the signing into law
of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-
623). The legislation charges the Secretary of Commerce with the design,
conduct and implementation of directed scientific research in support of U.S.
objectives in the CCAMLR. Responsibility for these activities has been
delegated to the National Fisheries Service (NMFS) of NOAA.

The U.S. AMLR Program supports the CCAMLR need for information through
analysis of commercial fisheries data and directed research on key species
groups in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. This information, along with
research done by other member countries, is used by the CCAMLR to detect and
record significant changes in critical components of the Antarctic
ecosystem. The Scientific Committee of the CCAMLR then makes conservation
recommendations to the Commission, which establishes required conservation
measures.

The U.S. AMLR Program focuses its field research activities in the
southwest Atlantic Ocean, Scotia Arc, and Antarctic Peninsula. Special
attention is directed to the vicinity of Bransfield Strait, South Shetland
Islands, and the Palmer Archipelago. In addition, the AMLR Program conducts
field work in other areas, as needed, to provide comparative data.


Litin

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/NEC-60

Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program

Survey of Antarctic Fur Seals
in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica, during the 1986-1987

- Austral Summer

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
Northeast Fisheries Center
Woods Hole, Massachusetts

September 1988



vi
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Pinniped census in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica, during the 1986/87 austral summer.......... eee eeee

Table 2. Summary of Antarctic fur seal pup production in
the South Shetland Islands, Antartica, in 1986/87.......ssseeee

Table 3. Changes in Antarctic fur seal pup production at
important rookery sites in the South Shetland Islands,

Antarctica. Sites listed are for those areas for
which there are past census data comparable with
the 1986/87 survey.......sseeveee beeen ne eeeceteeeeeensees seeee

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. South Shetland Islands, Antarctica study area..... beeen weneees


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INTRODUCTION

Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, were commercially harvested
and nearly exterminated in the 19th century. In the 1930's small numbers of
fur seals (tens of individuals) were once again seen at Bird Island, South
Georgia (Bonner, 1968). Since 1956, when censuses were begun in the South
Georgia vicinity, the number of pups born at Bird Island and South Georgia
increased to a population estimated in the early 1980's at just under one
million (Payne, 1977; Bonner, 1981; Laws, 1984). At present, the majority of
Antarctic fur seal pups are born at Bird Island, South Georgia, and the Willis
Island, although daughter rookeries have been re-established during the past
isa) decades throughout the Scotia Arc and elsewhere (Bonner, 1968; Laws,
1984). :

Surveys have been made during the breeding season at several of these
sites, but census coverage has been incomplete. Fur seals in the South
Shetland Islands have been censused sporadically over the past 80 years, with
the first post-exploitation record of successful pup production being reported
by O'Gorman (1961) at Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, in January of 1958.
However, no attempts to census the entire archipelago have been made since
1965/66 when Aguayo and Torres (1967) surveyed fur seal abundance.

The survey reported here focused on the South Shetland Islands and had
three principal objectives: 1) to document the recolonization and current
distribution of Antarctic fur seal rookeries, 2) to estimate the current
annual pup production in the archipelago, and 3) to identify fur seal
rookeries suitable as potential monitoring sites in the land-based network of
the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program.

METHODS

Surveys, which were conducted between 23 December 1986 and 12 February
1987 during research cruises aboard the USCGC Glacier, were used to survey all
coastlines of the Elephant Island group, including the Seal Islands,
Cornwallis, Clarence, Gibbs, Aspland, and O'Brien Islands (Figure 1). Surveys
were flown at approximately 100 m altitude, with photographs taken of large
groups to assist in estimating group size (e.g., southern elephant seals,
Mirounga leonina). Although the survey focused on Antarctic fur seals, all
Pinnipeds observed hauled out on land were counted. Species which routinely
haul out on ice (e.g., crabeater seals, Lobodon carcinophagus, and leopard
seals, Hydrurga leptonyx), were sighted on land only infrequently whereas
southern elephant seals (hauled out on beaches for their annual molting
period) were sighted often. Counts of all pinnipeds were tallied by species,
with no differentiation made between age and sex classes except for fur
seals. At sites where fur seal pups were present, observers counted living:
and dead pups by censusing colonies on foot.

Surveys from the R/V Prof. Siedlecki were conducted between 25 January to
12 February 1987 and were performed by navigating inflatable boats near
shore. All ice-free coasts of the South Shetland Islands between Low and
Smith Islands and King George Island were examined in this fashion (Figure
1). Where fur seals were observed in abundance, observers landed to search
for pups by walking through haulout areas.


3

position in relation to krill fishing areas. The relative advantages of
establishing a monitoring program at these sites will be considered further
national programs and within the Working Group for the CCAMLR Ecosystem
Monitoring Program.


GENERAL DISCLAIMER

This document may be affected by one or more of the following statements

This document has been reproduced from the best copy furnished by
the sponsoring agency. It is being released in the interest of making
available as much information as possible.

This document may contain data which exceeds the sheet
parameters. It was furnished in this condition by the sponsoring
agency and is the best copy available.

This document may contain tone-on-tone or color graphs, charts
and/or pictures which have been reproduced in black and white.

This document is paginated as submitted by the original source.
Portions of this document are not fully legible due to the historical

nature of some of the material. However, it is the best reproduction
available from the original submission.


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(continued on inside back cover)


vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the officers and crew of the USCGC Glacier
and the R/V Prof. Siedlecki for excellent logistic support in the field. We
also thank M. E. Goebel, R. L. Merrick, S. D. Osmek, W. D. Shuford, and L. B.
Spear for assistance in the field and laboratory. This work was supported by
the National Marine Fisheries Service's Antarctic Marine Living Resources
Program and the National Science Foundation's Division of Polar Programs.


2
RESULTS

A total of 12 Antarctic fur seal pupping sites were identified, some of
which were not known prior to this survey (Tables 1 and 2). Numbers of
Antarctic fur seal pups at various sites ranged between a single pup each at
Fildes Peninsula, Desolation Island, and Smith Island, to 1,875 pups
(including 215 dead pups) at the Telmo Island north of Livingston Island.
Most pupping sites were located on or near King George, Livingston, or
Elephant Islands. Only bachelor male fur seals were observed at other
sites. No pupping sites were located on the southern coasts of islands along
the Bransfield Strait.

Even though the fur seal population is increasing in the South Shetland
Islands, not all of the islands known to have had fur ‘seal rookeries prior to
exploitation are currently occupied. Our census revealed that although fur
seal colonies are being re-established successfully along the northern
coastlines of the South Shetland Islands, recolonization of the southern
coasts has not yet begun. Southern coasts are known to have been the sites of
large fur seal rookeries which were subjected to heavy commercial exploitation
in the 1820/21 and 1821/22 seasons (Stackpole, 1955; Bertrand, 1971). In
addition, no fur seals were observed at Cornwallis, Clarence, Gibbs, Aspland,
or O'Brien Islands, The absence of animals at these islands conforms to
previous survey data which indicated few Antarctic fur seals in these areas
(Aguayo and Torres, 1967; Hunt 1973; Aguayo, 1978).

DISCUSSION

Our survey results indicate that both the pup production and the
distribution of Antarctic fur seals are continuing to increase in the South
Shetland Islands (Table 3). Even for those sites in years when data on the
number of pups are not available, the total number of individuals observed
appears to be increasing in most areas.

The reason for the differences in growth rates of rookery size between
the three islands listed in Table 3 is unknown. Whereas rookeries at Elephant
and Livingston Islands have expanded significantly over the past two decades,
the number of pups born at Stigant Point, King George Island, has remained
essentially unchanged. To the human observer, there appears to be sufficient
space on the Stigant Point beaches for rookery growth. These areas are
currently utilized as haulout areas by bachelor males. Determining the extent
to which potential differences in habitat and local-prey resources between _
these sites may influence pup survival and rookery. expansion requires further
study.

Three fur seal pupping sites were identified as potentially good
locations for incorporation into CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program
network: 1) Seal Island, Elephant Island, Bt Stigant Point, King George
Island, and 3) Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island. Each of these sites meets
the following criteria which are considered important for establishing a field
camp for monitoring purposes: 1) at least 100 fur seal pups born annually, 2)
at least 10,000 nesting Chinstrap Penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica, available
for similar monitoring studies, and 3) a suitable camp site available for a
field team. Cape Shirreff and Seal Island are particularly well suited as
monitoring sites because of their abundance of fur seals and geographic