Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
every swell that raised and lowered the boat above. We didn't relish the
thought of being snagged by one of those hooks a hundred feet down.
Our new system actually worked and we were able to collect several
species of beautiful rockfish never before displayed in aquariums, in-
cluding the colorful and highly prized rosy (
Sebastes rosaceus
), vermilion
(
S. miniatus
), and starry (
S. constellatus
), as well as the green-spotted
rockfish (
S. chlorostictus
), which to our knowledge had never before been
collected alive. Later we received many requests from other aquariums
to trade for these fish. Little did they know the time, e¤ort, and risk
that went into collecting them.
The water at the Channel Islands, which include Catalina and San
Clemente, is generally very clear. This is the habitat of the pelagic
blue shark (
Prionace glauca
). On more than one occasion blue sharks
were attracted to the drop line with its string of struggling rockfish.
Although they weren't a serious threat to us, we did get a little ner-
vous when a six-foot blue was chomping our hard-earned fish from
the line while we were trying to needle another one just two hooks
away.
One rockfish-collecting trip I will never forget took us to the lee side
of San Clemente Island, a hundred miles seaward of San Diego. We'd
made one set and brought some nice fish on board, and then moved
on to another location. The baited line had been dropped, fish were
hooked, and we had brought the line up to a depth of 80-100 feet.
Just as Sea World aquarist Kym Murphy and I jumped in the water to
head down to needle our catch, the strap on my old tank backpack
broke. I signaled to Kym that I was going back to the boat to get an-
other pack and would join him at the fish.
Back on board and frustrated by my very old, now broken backpack,
I threw it overboard and grabbed another. I was just getting ready to
jump in when Kym broke the surface and yelled, “Shark!” He had seen
my backpack sinking into the depths and, assuming I had accidentally
dropped it, swam down to retrieve it. At the same time, a very large,
gray-colored shark came up out of the depths heading toward the same
pack, possibly attracted by the shiny stainless steel band, or perhaps
by Kym himself. I suspect Kym broke the swimming speed record from
that point to the boat above.
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