Hacheman, C.D. 1967 March 19 Layson Island and subadults. We counted 199 seals of all ages on a complete survey of the island. The walk around Layson is a long but interesting one. Fish balls of and bottle of all shapes, sizes and descriptions litter the beaches along the north and east shore. On some areas there may be as many as 75-100 fishballs in less than 50 feet of sand. The pink found on the beach is fascinating. Large numbers of light bulbs are found high on the beach - unbroken. We have found some neon bulbs. Among items found today: 3 raffle balls, a plaque marked "No 3" Boat", b/11/11, int red and bl/4 light bulbs, a can headlight (sealed beam), wine + whiskey bottle galore, a canteen (USA Army type) made in 1918, a military thermos jug, float cork + pole, a can of metal polish, an oxygen cylinder, and one chrome dog among other things. We found several enormous pieces of bamboo on the beach - one was 30 feet long and had a diameter of about 9-11" at the butt end. Along the east beach we found many small piles of Portuguese man-o-war. These were all small - about 1 to 3' long and light blue in color. We had seen large numbers floating by the ship during the two days we had to lay off of the island! I am continually amazed by the lack of abundant life on these northern island reefs. The variety of fish and other creatures is minimal when compared with that which exists on the reefs of the equatorial islands. These northern islands are almost barren in comparison. There are also very few crabs on these northern islands when compared with those to the south. We made the complete island circuit in little more than 3 1/2 hours. The six or so miles around seem like 20 toward the boat because walking in the loose sand is difficult and quickly tires a person. After eating a well rounded lunch: 2 glasses of Tang, 2 cups coffee, + 2 peanut butter + jam sandwich I headed for the lagoon to make a shocked count + to take a few pictures of some of the birds that were present. Around 2 p.m I was trying with Hacheman, C.D. 1967 March 19 Layson Island a pair of binoculars + my single lens reflex camera in an attempt to obtain a decent photograph of a Layson Tern. It seems to work fairly well but I couldn't hold the binoculars + the camera steady enough. I was just starting back toward camp to borrow Ernie's tripod before going completely around the lagoon when the ship began to blow its siren and horn. Later, When I arrived in camp I learned that the baromate was falling + the surf was rapidly building up again + we had been requested to come off of the island. Since there were 20 some men from the ships who were on the island picking up fish balls and looking at the birds, it took about 4 trips with the whole boat to get everyone and all of the gear back to the ship. During one of the trips they crashed 3 times on the boat + caused some minor hull damage when the boat was slammed by a large wave that was just starting to break. One crewman got a nasty bump on the head as the boat pitched over the wave. So once again something has come up to ruin all our plans + cut into our field work time. I had planned to measure eggs of a number of species tonight as well as surveying the southern + eastern quadrant of the island. On this whole trip I have only had a little more than 1 full night of working time. Hardly enough in which to accomplish anything! Checked about 75 Layson Albatross nests the first afternoon and night on the island but found no fleas in the nests! Also checked in about 30 Black-footed nests but found no fleas there either.