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In 1983, 4,559 kilometres of coast were patrolled and 5,991 dead seabirds were found. A new record for the Beach Patrol Scheme was a pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus). Unusual finds were yellow-nosed mollymawk (Diomedea chlororhynchos), Stejneger’s petrel (Pterodroma longirostris), white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus), lesser frigate bird (Fregata ariel) and grey ternlet (Procelsterna cerulea). A wreck of long-tailed skuas (Stercorarius longicaudus) occurred mainly on Auckland West beaches in January and February. A summary is given of the coastal and monthly distribution for each species and subspecies of the 2,401 albatrosses found during the 1960-1983 period. Of the various coastal regions, albatrosses were found most frequently (number of birds per 100 km covered) on Southland beaches. The most frequently found albatross was the grey-headed mollymawk (Diomedea chrysostoma).