Introduction 
This report will cover the non-grid portion of the November, 1966 
cruise to Palmyra Island and the Northern Grid. The P013SP personnel 
participating in this trip were Brian Harrington (Biologist-in-Charge), 
Walter Bulmer, Jim Lewis, and Frank Smith. 
The non-grid portion of this cruise was taken in three parts: Honolulu 
to Palmyra Island, Palmyra Island to the Northern Grid, and thence to 
Honolulu. 
Phase 1: Honolulu to Palmyra. Island . 
“ The first section of this report will deal with the initial leg of 
the cruise which is the trip from Honolulu to Palmyra Island. This 
journey took four days and included diurnal pelagic observations on the 
8, 9, 10, and 11th of November, 1966. 
Gerterally, bird activity was low/moderate for this entire section of 
the cruise, although there were some variations from day to day. We did 
not observe over two- hundred birds in any single day and the lowest number 
observed was one hundred and ten birds on the 10th of November (see table). 
Of the birds observed, a high percentage were Shearwater Petrels. Sooty 
Terns accounted for 2h% of the total birds,and most of these were seen in 
small flocks. No streamered or banded birds were observed during this 
cruise. 
Flock activity was also low for the first four days. All of the flocks 
were either searching or feeding. No traveling flocks were observed. The 
highest number was observed on the 8th (see table) near the Hawaiian islands 
and the lowest number was seen on the 9th. The flock activity began to 
increase again as we approached the Line Islands but remained rather low 
in comparison to previous recordings. The majority of all flocks were 
mixed. Sooty Terns and Shearwater Petrels (see table). 
A brief discussion of the abundance, distribution and behavior of 
each species follows: 
Sooty/Slender-billed Shearwater : 
Seven birds identified as either Sooty or Slender-billed Shearwater 
(Puffinus griseus and Puffinus t enuirostris ) were observed during the 
first three days - of the cruise (see table). One of those sighted on the 
eighth of November had light underwings. Of the total number seen, five 
were traveling south and two were going southwest. We were apparently 
getting stragglers from an earlier migration or stray birds from the main 
route. 
Sooty Shearwater: 
(Puffinus griseus) 
One - bird positively identified as a Sooty Shearwater was seen traveling 
south on the 8th of November at 19-0$ N; l£8-30 W. 
Newell's Shearwater: 
(Puffinus puffinus newelli ) 
One bird of this species was seen heading south on the eighth of 
November. 
