abstract
A census of seals using methods employed during the International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expedition was carried out in the King Haakon VII Sea, Antarctica, in early 1974. A total of 185 km2 (54 square nautical miles) was censused. Population densities of crabeater Lobodon carcinophagus and leopard seals Hydrurga leptonyx derived from the data collected compared well with the results of other workers, but the density of Ross seals Ommatophoca rossi was considerably greater than reported in the literature. The percentage of crabeater seals in the sample was similar to other surveys, while the percentage of Ross seals was much greater. Crabeater seals were found to be semi-gregarious while Ross and leopard seals were solitary. Crabeater and Ross seals preferred smooth floes to hummocked floes and small floes to large ones.
