Abundance of Northwest Atlantic grey seals in Canadian waters

Northwest Atlantic grey seals form a single stock, but for management purposes are often consid-ered as 2 groups. The largest group whelps on Sable Island, 290 km east of Halifax, Nova Sco-tia. The second group referred to as ‘non-Sable Island ’ or ‘Gulf ’ animals whelps primarily on the pack ice in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, with other smaller groups pupping on small is-lands in the southern Gulf and along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Estimates of pup produc-tion in this latter group have been determined using mark-recapture and aerial survey techniques