3 
GENERAL DISCUSSION 
The further west we went, the fewer birds were seen. Sightings 
and total numbers of birds decreased* From Majuro Atoll on, most of 
the birds were seen close tolh© islands* 
The Shearwater-Petrel group as a whole decreased fairly sharply 
from east to west* After the 13th of June, very few Procellariids 
were seen except for Bulwers Petrels. 
In general, it could almost be estimated what was present on the 
islands by observing the birds at sea* On the first part of the trip. 
Sooty Terns were the predominant tern. Before reaching Majuro, it 
could be seen that the predominant birds were the Common and Hawaiian 
Noddy Terns* 
While on course from southeast to southwest of Sand-Johnston, the 
direction of the Island could be estimated by the travelling Sooty Terns®. 
When southeast of the island, the general direction for many of the birds 
was a northwest or a southern flight® As we cam© to the southern part 
©f the island, many of the travelling birds were heading in a more 
n©rth«south direction* As we were southwest of the island, the travelling 
birds were headed mostly northeast or in an easterly direction® 
Most of the birds seen on the fifth of June were seen between 
sunrise and 1500* This may have been due to the closeness of the island, 
but there is another possibility. Between the hours of sunrise and 
1500, there were more flying fish and other fish seen. This indicates 
that this area was either more densely populated with small fish or 
there were more larger fish below driving up the smaller fish* Larger 
fish observed in this area were the Yellow-fin Tuna and the Dolphin* 
Other kinds of large fish were observed to jump out of the water also* 
A total of 66 ©range streamered Sooty Terns, 3 Common Noddy Terns, 
3 Wedgetailed Shearwaters and 1 Red-footed Booby were observed® All 
of the orange streamer sightings were seen on the fifth of June from 
0730 in the morning to 1851 In the evening. All of the birds were 
observed between 16°19«N l69°l5 ? W and l5°23 f N 171°05 9 W* Total time 
between the first and last observations was 12 hours and 21 minutes* 
The greatest number of flecks were seen on the fifth ©f June 
when we were near Sand-Johnston« A total ©f 19 flocks was > seen on 
that day. Most of the flocks seen in this area were composed mainly 
of Sooty Terns, Wedgetails, and Common Noddy Terns, The predominent 
bird was the adult Sooty Tern, 
After the eighth of June, the predominent birds in flocks were 
Common Noddy Terns, Hawaiian Noddy Terns and Fairy Terns, Almost no 
Sooty Terns were seen after the eighth. Flocks seen after the eighth 
were usually close to the islands. 
