Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Our home on the beach at Los Frailes. (Photo courtesy John
O'Sullivan)
surf that might develop during the night. After unloading the catch,
the boat operator would circle out seaward, turn toward shore, and,
giving full throttle, aim straight for the beach. At the last second, just
before hitting the steep sand slope, he'd reach back and raise the en-
gine. The speed and momentum carried the boat way up the beach,
where it came to a stop. Unfortunately, launching the boats in the morn-
ing wasn't so easy and was done by all six fishermen dragging each boat
down the slope and into the water. We enjoyed watching the fishermen—
especially their daily high-speed beaching technique—and became
friendly with them. On a number of occasions they gave us fresh
cabrilla
or
dorado,
the Spanish name for the Hawaiian mahi-mahi (
Coryphaena
hippurus
), for our dinner.
When I arrived by air, John, Bob, Carolyn, and Steve had already
made a number of collecting dives and had a good population of fish
in the floating receivers. Circling closely around the outside of the re-
ceivers, using them as shelter from predators, were dozens of half-inch
golden jacks (
Gnathanodon speciosus
). Young jacks of many species are
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