Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
were transporting back to San Diego. He said he would be happy to
install a seawater heating system using engine manifold heat; his uncle
would even be willing to pay for the modifications. If he would do all
that, we were more than happy to go to Socorro with him.
Again I was successful in talking Bob Kiwala into coming along, and
he invited Ron McConnaughey, also from Scripps Institution of
Oceanography. They wanted to make a scientific fish collection—in
the form of preserved specimens—at Alijos Rocks (pronounced ah-lee-
hos ), lonely, uninhabited rocky pinnacles 180 miles o¤ the west coast
of Baja California. The rocks, actually the tips of a submerged oceanic
volcano, are located two-thirds of the way down the peninsula at the
juncture of two biological zones, the temperate to the north and the
tropical to the south. Because of the remote location, no one had ever
made a scientific collection there. In fact, though the area had been
fished by hook and line, it was considered rather unproductive—mainly,
we soon learned, because of the large number of sharks that attacked
almost every fish they hooked up.
Now, coming from scientists at Scripps, that information began to
worry us. The fish collection we planned was to be made using scuba
and spreading an ichthyocide called rotenone, which kills fish relatively
quickly by blocking their oxygen uptake. After the rotenone was spread,
we would dive down, gather up all the dead fish we could, and stu¤
them into net bags to bring back up to the boat. The fish would then
be preserved for later classification at Scripps.
ARMED WITH BANG STICKS
Shark stories put temporarily aside, the trip was on, and we loaded the
boat with our usual collecting equipment plus several gallons of
rotenone and a number of new bang sticks we'd invested in. A bang
stick is a defensive device a diver carries. When it is thrust against a
threatening shark, the contact will detonate a rifle, shotgun, or hand-
gun cartridge. Unlike firearms used above water, bang sticks have no
bullets; it is the explosion that incapacitates the shark, rather than a
projectile. Reputed to be deadly, they come in a variety of styles and
calibers. None of us had actually used one before, but they made us
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