Question

A team of biologists tagged 35 seals off the coast of an island. Later, they captured a sample of seals from the same area and found that 13% of them had rafs. Use this information to estimate the total number of seals.

Answer 1

To estimate the total number of seals, we can use the mark and recapture method. By applying the formula N = (M1 * N1) / M2, where M1 is the initial number of marked individuals, N1 is the total number of individuals in the second sample, and M2 is the number of recaptured marked individuals, we can calculate the estimated total number of seals to be approximately 719.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this question, we can apply the mark and recapture method to estimate the total number of seals. The biologists initially tagged 35 seals and later captured a sample of seals from the same area. They found that 13% of the captured seals had rafs. To estimate the total number of seals, we can use the formula N = (M1 * N1) / M2, where N is the total population, M1 is the initial number of marked individuals, N1 is the total number of individuals in the second sample, and M2 is the number of recaptured marked individuals.

Applying this formula to the given information, we have M1 = 35, N1 = (100 / 13) * 35 = 269.23 (rounded to 269), and M2 = (13 / 100) * 100 = 13. Substituting these values, we can calculate N = (35 * 269) / 13 = 719.23 (rounded to 719).Therefore, the estimated total number of seals is approximately 719.