UNITED STATES 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 
BUREAU OP SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE 
Sand Point Naval Air Station 
Seattle 15, Washington 
30 April 1963 
Mr. William O. Wirtz II 
Research Curator, Pacific Project 
Division of Birds 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington 25, D. C. 
Dear Bill: 
Many thanks for your interesting letter of 24 April telling me 
of your field work in the Leeward Hawaiian Islands and asking 
for information on the monk seals which were tagged on Laysan 
Island in 1957. 
The animal bearing the tag MS 68 was a male pup, which I presume 
had just molted its black coat as Woodside lists it as being brown. 
It was tagged on 26 June 1957 on the west beach, which I judge is 
approximately the same place where you found it. 
I am glad to hear of your success in tagging 156 seals. I can 
imagine though the brute force technique must have been quite 
strenuous. Dale Rice and I wrestled several yearlings into a net 
for weighing and found this an energy consuming job for two men. 
I will certainly look forward to hearing more of the results of 
this first trip and of■ your projected one in June in the future. 
Attached is a copy of a letter from Mr. David H. Woodside which 
he sent me on 30 July 1957, giving the data on the monk seals 
that he tagged. It includes a map of Laysan Island showing where 
albatrosses were banded. You may find this useful. 
Sincerely yours. 
Biologist 
End. 
