12 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



sightings took 20 minutes of computer time. Twenty-five questions 

 of this complexity may be asked at the same time. 



The most graphic application of automatic data processing to the 

 observation data is for plotting distribution maps. Seasonal move- 

 ments and changes in abundance may be depicted directly by machine 

 print-outs in the form of annotated cruise tracks. Such machine 

 printed distribution maps of the two color phases of wedge-tailed 

 shearwaters from May to July are shown in figure 9. Light phase birds 

 breed in the Hawaiian Islands to the north; dark phase birds, below 



Observer 



Observation 



At Sea 

 Log 



Editor 



Research 

 Scientist 



Print-Out 

 and 

 Tally 



Computer 



Analysis 



Plot-Out 

 Figure 5. — Data flow chart for seabird ADP system. 



the equator to the south. Density distribution maps of this sort 

 may be requested to show actual numbers of birds observed as in 

 figure 9 or rates of occurrence in birds per mile or per hour. 



Worldwide Application 



Because this ADP system was intended primarily to handle data 

 obtained on this one set of cruises in the central Pacific Ocean, some 

 modifications will be necessary in order to analyze data from elsewhere 

 in the Pacific or in other oceans of the world. Some of these modifica- 

 tions already have been incorporated into the Smithsonian program; 



