Northern fur seals occur from southern California north to the Bering Sea and west to the Okhotsk Sea and Honshu Island, Japan. During the summer breeding season, most of the worldwide population is found on the Pribilof Islands in the southern Bering Sea, with the remaining animals on rookeries in Russia, on Bogoslof Island in the southern Bering Sea, and on San Miguel Island off southern California. At the rookeries, adult males set up territories in May, females arrive in June and give birth to one pup a few days later. Most pups are weaned at about 4 months in November. After the breeding season, adult males from the Pribilof Islands migrate to the Gulf of Alaska , while adult females and juveniles migrate through the Aleutian Islands into the North Pacific Ocean, often as far south as the Oregon and California offshore waters. Many pups may remain at sea nearly 2 years before returning to their rookery of birth. Pups weigh up to 5.4 kg at birth; adult males average 2.1 m in length and can weigh up to 275 kg. Adult females are much smaller; they weigh 30 to 50kg.
- Biology
- Distribution and breeding sites in U.S.
- Life history
- Estimating abundance
- Summer foraging trips
- Winter migration
- El Niño impacts
- Entanglement in marine debris
- Northern fur seal bibliography
- Northern fur seal Photo Archive
- 2016 northern fur seal pup production and adult male counts on the Pribilof Islands
- NEW - 2015 NFS adult male counts on the Pribilof Islands
- 2015 NFS pup production estimate on Bogoslof Island
- 2014 NFS pup production and adult male counts on Pribilof Islands
- 2013 NFS adult male counts on Pribilof Islands
- 2012 NFS pup production and adult male counts on Pribilof Islands
- 2011 NFS pup production estimate on Bogoslof Island
- 2011 NFS adult male counts on the Pribilof Islands
- 2010 NFS pup production and adult male counts on Pribilof Islands (updated 12/5/2012)
- 2009 NFS adult male counts on Pribilof Islands
- 2008 NFS pup production and adult male counts on Pribilof Islands (updated 4/24/09)
- 2007 Pribilof Islands Adult Male Counts
- Current Research Projects by the California Current Ecosystems Program
- Current Research Projects by the Alaska Ecosystems Program
- Publications: search AFSC database for Northern Fur Seals
- Posters: search AFSC database for Northern Fur Seals
- Quarterly Reports
- Fur Seal Archives
- Fur seal investigations: 2006-2007, 2004-2005, 2002-2003, 2000-2001, 1999, 1998, Full List
- RUEDIG, E., C. DUNCAN, B. DICKERSON, M. WILLIAMS, T. GELATT, J. BELL, and T. E. JOHNSON.
2016. Fukushima derived radiocesium in subsistence-consumed northern fur seal and wild celery. J. Environ. Radioactiv. 152:1-7.
Online.
- CORTES-HINOJOSA, G., F. M. D. GULLAND, R. DELONG, T. GELATT, L. ARCHER, and J. F. X. WELLEHAN, Jr.
2016. A novel gammaherpesvirus in northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) is closely related to the California sea lion (Zalophus Californianus) carcinoma-associated otarine herpesvirus-1. J. Wildlife Diseases 52(1):88-95. http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2015-03-060 Online.
- BELONOVICH, O. A., S. V. FOMIN, V. N. BURKANOV, R. D. ANDREWS, and R. W. DAVIS.
2016. Foraging behavior of lactating northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) in the Commander Islands, Russia. Polar Biol. 39(2):357-363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1786-9 Online.
- ZEPPELIN, T. K., D. S. JOHNSON, C. E. KUHN, S. J. IVERSON, and R. R. REAM.
2015. Stable isotope models predict foraging habitat of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) in Alaska. PLoS One 10(6):e0127615. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127615. (Open Access). Online.
- Search the AFSC database for additional Northern Fur Seal publications
- Slaty-backed Gulls as a Commensal at a Sympatric Rookery of Steller Sea Lions and Northern Fur Seals (Dolgaya Rock, Kuril Islands)
1.81 MB Online.
- Stable Isotope Model Predicts Foraging Habitat of Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) in Alaska
6.13 MB Online.
- Linking Northern Fur Seal Behavior with Prey Distributions: the Impact of Temporal Mismatch Between Predator and Prey Surveys
10.5 MB Online.
- Search the AFSC database for additional Northern Fur Seal posters