Progress Report 
SIC No 7 - February 26 - March 18 
2. 
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on the windward side and in the inner lagoon. Large chunks of coral were 
present in the lagoon. The natives said the coral had been deposited there 
by the hurricane in 1914. Mosquitos were present on the island as were 
coconut crabs. 
Nukunono Atoll 
The presence of a New Zealand catholic priest made our task easier on 
the island. He loaned us his boat and we borrowed a native boat and put our 
motors on them and traveled the 8 miles to Tokelau Island where we worked. 
The Pacific Fruit Pigeon was very common on the island as was the Reef Heron 
and Black-naped Tern. Two drums of fish were collected, one drum from the 
lagoon near Tokelau Island and the other drum from the channel at the village. 
The islanders had a party the last evening we were there for the ship f s crew 
and the Smithsonian Party. Twenty-two specimens of birds were taken. Mosquitos 
were present. About 500 people inhabit the atoll. 
Atafu Atoll 
This is the smallest island in the Tokelau Islands and has about 200 
inhabitants including a trained medical doctor. This island gave us the 
most trouble with natives and we lost some expendable gear plus a set of 
contact lens belonging to the Project leader. The usual birds found on the 
other two islands were also found here plus coconut . crabs which we found on 
Fakaofo but not on Nukunono. We took 45 specimens of birds here including 
the usual birds found on the other islands plus the New Zealand Cuckoo, 
Fudynamis tahitiensis . The weather in the Tokelau Islands was nearly perfect 
with very little rain. 
Jarvis Island 
The beach on Jarvis had changed from the previous trip and we were 
confronted with a 5* rock wall when we landed instead of a sand beach. The 
surf was fairly high but little difficulty was encountered launching boats 
until the last two days when it was impossible with 20 - 25 ’ waves pounding the 
shore. The day we departed, we loaded the raft and towed it around to the 
east shore on the reef. The tide was high or we would have had to pack the 
gear to the area. This channel was fairly smooth and full of sharks and would 
have only been used in an emergency for departure. Upon departing the raft 
was partially deflated and the motor submerged Itself after running for 
approximately 1-1/2 mihutes. The Navy had sent us another raft which threw 
us a tow line and took us to the ship in extremely heavy seas. The raft had 
the bottom knocked out of it and it was in a worthless state. 
Birds were low in number onLJarvis. The Sooty Terns were in the air over 
the island but none were nesting. The Blue-faced Boobies were in short supply. 
A Wedge-tailed Shearwater was seen on the island and several observed in the 
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