Translation 2783

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the adults !.,effin to move into the coastal zone, and the females fornl
rookeries of s!nall grout)s on ice-floes. The pupr-.ing season i!.i
fairly
prolonged., and -- depending on the area in which th.- seals live --
lasts from September to 'r;ove:nber.
In the area of 1•:çEurdo ;.iourld station,
for instance, most of the females bxinÛ forth their young fro:a.
the middle of October to the beginilirl. of 1•;ovenber, wherca.s in Princess
ii,liz.a.both Land tlle puppin;• season lasts froi:r .ovelnbex 1-j to the
end of iïovember.
As a rule a female produces asi.llgle pup, which is covered
with long, soft embryonic hair of drey colour.
lactation, period
l^.i.sts for about six weeks.
The pups begin to moult their embryonic hiair when i;iley are
two weeks old, and the moult lasts for about four weeks. They begin
to enter the l.aterbefore that moult is completed, but they do not 96
nlake. the full transition to an independent l,-iode of life until they
are eight ureelcs old. 'fhen they feed at first on small crusta.ceans.
When the lactation period ends the breeding rookeries break up.
Ili. the 1•Icllurdo Sound region the colonies disperse at the end of
December. The mating period for the adults then begins. The females
attain se: uia.l iiiatul"'ity when two or t'ilr.ee years oi.ii., but most of them
begin to breed at the age of four or five years. Gestation lasts
for 11 months. It is believed that the males begin to take an active
part in reproduction somewhat later than tile females, at tile age of
five or six years.
Little information is available on the duration of the Jnoulting
per.iocl. "vidently it is prol.onged in the case of adults. They
begin to shed their hair after the end of mating, and they moult all
through the sum;ner.
At that time not only individuals that have finished
n3oLlltinp;, but also others at the peak of the llloult, art-: ouserved
s.imultalleously. Yhe moult talces place both on the ice and on shore.
Small moultintr, rool:erie, have been.observect on islands and on seine
narts of the ;..ai.lJlan(1. We may :;urmice that t.ic i.:oulting period lasts
from lloce:,Jber to ^larch.
':'eddell' s seals feed intel':üively at t.tlo. iiei^;rli of tne Alltarct1.c
Fufa!:.trr, and le:Js ilc 'G].\rely in autu^1111 FLIlv. lJ.l.JI l:er. ''l'hcir l,rillciptLl
dâ.eta.ry i1;e1 . ns Ri:(" v;l.riou:l species ôf !1nue.ratic !.':i.;,trc::l tuai livo in
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