Gould, P. J. 
T96J" 
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 
1 
l/2 day out in S and W direction from Pearl Harbor- - August 1 
1427. Circled about front of ship and moved with ship. Rapid flapping, then 
glide close to water. 
1442 -1448 --Flying in direction of ship on starboard side. A lot more soaring 
and less flapping than one before, going higher over water. Flys horizontal, low 
over water, then rises in air banking with belly towards ship then back down into 
wave trough in "S" shaped motion. 
August 2--1 l/2 days out of Pearl Harbor, S and W 
We have seen a lot of these today in groups of anywhere from 1-30. Most often seen 
in 2 1 s and 3 T s . Saw one flock where there were 13 or so sitting on water and they 
waited until the boat was only 25-50 yds. from them before they flew. Saw another large 
flock and noticed a few plunge into the water after gliding close to surface. They 
stayed in water a few (l-2) minutes dabbling with head often entirely under water 
before flying again. 
These shearwaters hold a much more horizontal position over the water than 
other shearwaters I have seen. I have yet to see one really shear the water 
with a wing. Most of the banking (one wing up, the other down) is done higher 
above the water and when they go low they stay horizontal. 
We have seen 2 or 3 birds following each other on numerous occasions. They 
stay together for several minutes, but almost always break up after this and 
circle independently. 
We have seen Manx Shearwater and New Zealand Shearwater associating closely with 
flocks of Wedge-tails, while other birds such as Sooty and Fairy Terns loosely 
associated with Wedge-tails. 
August. 3~~2 l/2 days out Pearl Harbor (S and W) ca. 500 nautical miles by evening 
(8:00 p.m. ) 
