National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program field research records, 1961-1973 : Rodman, Kinney, Judd.

Abstract

The Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program (POBSP) was initiated in 1962 when the Smithsonian Institution entered into a grant agreement with the Department of Defense. From January 1963 through June 1969 Smithsonian Institution employees undertook biological surveys in an area of the Pacific Ocean spanning the equator and extending from latitude 30 degrees north to 10 degrees south and from longitude 150 degrees east to 180 degrees west, an area dotted with clusters of islands and atolls. The major goals of the program were to learn what plants and animals occurred on the islands, the seasonal variations in their numbers and reproductive activities, and the distribution and population of the pelagic birds of that area. Emphasis was placed on the banding of birds in an effort to determine migration, distribution, and abundance of pelagic sea birds. During the six and a half years of field work 1,800,000 birds were banded; approximately 150,000 observations of pelagic birds at sea were made; and biological surveys of varying intensity were made on several islands. The present folder includes field notes with banding summaries and other data on observed pelagic birds in Hawaiian islands, like Leeward Islands and Laysan Island, visited from September 16-20, 1964 to December 18, 1964. These field notes are accompanied by other materials, which include typed and handwritten notes from log books on earlier field trips to Jarvis Island in 1935 and 1937, copies of correspondence between government agencies about leasing Jarvis Island to the Pacific Guano & Fertilizer Company of Honolulu, printed diary notes on a trip to Baker Island by C. A. Judd in 1860, typed notes and extracts from Julius Rodman's log on his trip to Baker Island in 1935, extracted by Roger Clapp on August 9, 1965, excerpts of a biography of Gerrit P. Judd, and copies of letters from Charles Hastings Judd written from Jarvis Island in 1858 and from Baker's Island in 1859 and 1861.

Date Range

1964

Start Date

Sep 16, 1964

End Date

Sep 20, 1964

Access Information

Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.

Topic

• Animals
• Bird banding
• Sea birds--Hawaii
• Zoology
• Birds
• Birds--Hawaii
• Ornithology

Place

• Laysan Island
• Bakers Island
• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
• Jarvis Island
• Leeward Islands

Form/Genre

• Fieldbook record
• Field notes

Accession #

SIA Acc. 83-126

Collection name

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program field research records, 1961-1973

Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Location

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Sublocation

Box 1, folder 18