Impact of the 1982–1983 El Niño on the Northern Fur Seal Population at San Miguel Island, California

Abstract

Northern fur seals reestablished a breeding colony at San Miguel Island (at 34°02′N, 120°26′W) during the late 1950s or early 1960s after having been absent from the island for over 100 years (DeLong 1982). Fur seal remains in Indian middens indicate that both northern fur seals and Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus townsendi) were abundant on the island prehistorically (Repenning et al. 1971; Walker and Craig 1979). Unregulated commercial sealing caused the destruction of both species on the California islands by 1835.