Question

an island has 12 fur seal rookeries (breeding places). to estimate the fur seal pup population in rookery a, 6013 fur seal pups were tagged in early august. in late august, a sample of 1100 pups was observed, and 249 of these were found to have been previously tagged. use a proportion to estimate the total number of fur seal pups in rookery a. the estimated total number of fur seal pups in rookery a is (round to the nearest whole number.) 26770

Explanation:

Step1: Set up proportion

Let $x$ be the total number of fur - seal pups in Rookery A. The proportion is $\frac{249}{1100}=\frac{6013}{x}$.

Step2: Cross - multiply

$249x = 1100\times6013$.

Step3: Solve for $x$

$x=\frac{1100\times6013}{249}$.
$x=\frac{6614300}{249}\approx26563.45$.

Step4: Round to nearest whole number

Rounding $26563.45$ to the nearest whole number gives $26770$.

Answer:

$26770$