Table 2.

Instantaneous death related to bullet impact site and bullet entrance wound location within groups (A–D) of young harp seals categorised by shooting angle to the head

	Anatomical structures	Shooting angle groups
		A	B	C	D	Total
Bullet impact site	Brain and cranial spinal cord
	Cranial cavity	11 [11]	44 [44]	20 [20]	33 [33]	130 [129]
	Cranial wall	3 [3]	10 [10]	2 [1]	7 [7]
	Cervical spine					6 [6]
	Cranial spine	1 [1]	3 [3]	2 [2]
	Caudal spine
	Head or neck outside CNS					29 [9]
	Close proximity to cranial CNS	2 [2]	4 [4]	1 [1]	2 [2]
	Orbit/eye		1 [0]	3 [0]	1 [0]
	Maxilla/Mandible			3 [0]	3 [0]
	Soft tissue neck			1 [0]	1 [0]
	Skin & blubber	3 [0]		2 [0]	2 [0]
	Body Forelimb or scapula Skin & blubber					6 [0]
		1 [0]	1 [0]	2 [0]	1 [0]
					1 [0]
Bullet entrance wound location	Head
	Cranium	4 [4]	32 [32]	19 [18]	19 [19]	74 [73]
	Orbit/eye	3 [3]	9 [8]	4 [1]	1 [0]	17 [12]
	Maxilla / Zygomatic arch	5 [5]	8 [8]	1 [0]	1 [0]	15 [13]
	Mandible / Mouth	3 [3]	8 [8]	2 [0]	2 [0]	15 [11]
	Skin & blubber	1 [0]			1 [0]	2 [0]
	Neck
	Cranial	3 [2]	4 [4]	6 [5]	17 [17]	30 [28]
	Caudal		1 [1]		6 [6]	7 [7]
	Skin & blubber	2 [0]		2 [0]		4 [0]
	Body
	Forelimb or scapula		1 [0]	2 [0]	1 [0]	4 [0]
	Thoracic back				2 [0]	2 [0]
	Skin & blubber				1 [0]	1 [0]
Total		21 [17]	63 [61]	36 [24]	51 [42]	171 [144]

A: directly from the front; B: obliquely from the front; C: directly from the side; D: obliquely or directly from behind. Results expressed as observed numbers with the number of instantaneous deaths given in square brackets.