National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program field research records, 1961-1973 : fish and wildlife, reports and notes.

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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 contains printed notes on field trip that focused on pelagic birds and on seals. The first notes, by Raymond J. Kramer, are on a trip to Laysan Island to observe the local fauna and plants, focusing mainly on pelagic birds; it is dated from April 28 to May 1, 1959. The next field notes are on a trip of Woodside and Kramer dated from 1961 to the Northwestern Hawaiian islands, also on plants and birds. Lastly, the folder includes notes on a trip from 1963 to Laysan Island, extracted in September 1968 by R. B. Clapp from files of the Hawaiian Dept. of Fish and Game. The notes focus on seals and birds.

Date Range

1959-1963

Start Date

Apr 28, 1959

End Date

1963

Access Information

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Topic

  • Fishes--Hawaii
  • Animals
  • Sea birds--Hawaii
  • Zoology
  • Mammals--Hawaii
  • Birds
  • Seals (Animals)
  • Plants
  • Birds--Hawaii
  • Ornithology
  • Botany

Place

  • Laysan Island
  • Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Form/Genre

  • Fieldbook record
  • Field notes
  • Research 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 19