islet, and the amount of nest destruction was estimated visually for 
each islet, with the following results (compared with the November 
population estimates): 


Laysan albatrosses , Black-footed albatrosses 
Number :Estimated:Estimated :Number :Estimated:Estimated 
of nests: percent : mumber :of nests: percent : number 
Island before : destroyed: remaining : before ; destroyed: remaining 
Kittery I. == -- -- 450 100 0 
Seal I. 450 50 225 375 80 75 
Grass I. 1,185 — 10 1,067 1,935 50 967 
South Sandspit -- -- -- 65 100 6) 
Southeast I. 14,225 5 13,514 2,270 35 1,475 
North sandspit -- -- -- 120 100 0 
North Island 2,060 5 1,957 1,930 20 1,544 
Total 17,920 “6 «16,763 7,145 43 4,061 
The inland-nesting Laysans suffered only minor nest destruc- 
tion compared with the beach-nesting black-foots. On the open bare 
sandspits (including Kittery Island), all of the black-foot nests were 
destroyed. Total nest mortality for black-foots in the entire atoll was 
about 43 percent, not significantly different from that at Midway. 
C. Albatross Problem in Aircraft Operations 
Frequency of Albatross Strikes 
During the period from 30 October 1957 to 17 April 1958, 
personnel in the Air Control Tower carefully observed with 7x50 binocu- 
lars every plane which landed and took off. All albatross strikes were 
recorded. The data gathered included time of strike, location on run- 
way, wind direction and other meteorological data, species of albatross 
involved, portion of aircraft struck, and any damage incurred by the 
aircraft. 
The number of strikes recorded is doubtless somewhat higher 
than the number of birds actually struck, as birds frequently come so 
close to moving aircraft that they are blown down and killed by the 
backwash from the prop or by the slipstream, without actually coming 
into contact with the aircraft. Such incidents would appear to be 
strikes to an observer in the tower, often a mile or more away. On 
December 1, 1957, Neff observed at close range, 23 birds killed; 4 did 
not actually touch the airplane. , 
The number of reported strikes in relation to aircraft opera- 
tions is presented in table 4. In calculating strike frequencies, only 
daylight landings and takeoffs are considered, as albatross soaring 
activity is virtually nonexistant at night. 
20 
