Notes taken by David Woodside _of the Hawaiian Department of Fish and Game on a 
survey of Laysan Island in^July 1957 (Extracted from files of Hawaiian Fish and 
Game by R.B.Clapp, September 1967) 
Tentative plan of trip - l/2 day exploring island for ducks noting stage of breeding 
activity, numbers; l'/2 day catching and crating ducks; 1 day to observe seabirds; 
3 days counting by plot densities; 1 l/2 days photographing birds; 1 day and night 
banding albatross. 
I 
Results of trip - 177 seals counted on 30 June. Saw only 1 newborn pup and 5 or 6 
black pups. 
* C5 
Notes on seals and albatrosses - Tagged 25 seals on west beach --- MS 51-59 females; 
6b-o4 males; 65-66 female's';" 67-69 males (all tagged June 2o, 1967) 70-75 females; 
(tagged June 28, 1957); 51-52 (yearlings) 53-54 (black pups) 55-61 (yearlings) 63-64 
(black pups) 64 with adult female 65; 66-67 (yearlings) 68 (brown pup) 69-70 
(yearlings) 71 (2 years) 73-75 (yearlings) "Majority of those listed as yearlings were 
probably large pups but a few were yearlings I'm sure." Noted a few seals feeding 
in shallow water at night. 
Albatross strip count of 6, 400 yards and 20 yards wide made. 1* *534 Laysan Albatross 
young to 80 Black-footed Albatross young - 40,500 Laysan if there are 700 acres of 
nesting Laysans and 2,100 Black-footed Albatrosses. 200 Laysan young banded 
(597-38401'-600) in strip 25 yards wide west from ironwood to laggon shore. Using 
this density compute 215, 000 Laysan for 700 acres. 200 Black-footed Albatross young 
banded (579-38601-800) - from west shore of lagoon at point west of tree and north 
around lagoon. Only 9 found on lagoon half , so at point opposite tree on east beach 
cut across and banded.rest on east sea beach in strip 50 yards by 200 yards. 
Plants collected by C.W, Daniel September 1959 now in the Bishop Museum and 
identified by Neal. 39 specimens of 19 species c. 7/24/59 
Revised estimates from Woodside trip 
Black-footed Albatross 
Laysan Albatross 
Christmas Shearwater 
Wedge-tail Shearwater 
Bonin Petrel 
Bulwer's Petrel 
Sooty Petrel 
Red-tailed Tropicblrd 
Red-footed Booby 
Brown Booby 
Blue-faced Booby 
Great Frigatebird 
9, 000 young 
45, 000 young 
10,000 adults 
40, 000? adults 
- - post-nesting 
3,000 adults 
- post-nesting 
1,000 adults 
1, 000 adults 
50 adults 
300 adults 
1, 500 adults 
Laysan Teal 
Golden Plover 
Ruddy Turnstone 
Wandering Tattler 
Br.thighed Curlew 
Gray-backed Tern 
Sooty Tern 
Noddy Tern 
Hawaiian Noddy 
Fairy Tern 
Laysan Finch 
580 adults 
1 20 
150 
20 
50 
4, 000 adult s 
400,000 adults 
10, 000 adults 
1,000 adults 
500 adults 
5,000 adults 
Duck s broods of 4 yougg 3 days old and 3 young 3 days old seen. One female seen 
with four young 2 days old; another adult seen with 3 young 1 week old (lagoon edge) 
One pair of teal s.een on the windward beach near morning glory. Also seen 1 male 
with 3 young; a pair with 6 young about 1 week; a female with 1 young about 4 days; 
a female with 2 young about 1 week; a female with 1 young about 1 week; a female with 
3 young about 1 week. - One young Bonin Petrel seen on surface during morning. 
— - A Blue-faced Booby with 2 eggs seen.-A Wedge-tail found with eggs (or several 
of them. 
