St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-25
Current knowledge of the
I. Fauna Of Sea Waters Great
~ Enlarged. +
The GulfofC California Swarms
With Fish Of Good Quail *
;tx, so
1Cys 20,
A Phenomenon of Nature Dis
covered on San Nicholas !,
~ leland x.

has made an interesting report to the
fish commission of the work of the
steamer AlbatrOSs from the beginning
of the present year to June 80 last. The
commander of the >Albatross was in
structed to cruise In the waters of the?
southern part of the California coast
and in the Gulf of California for the
purpose of investigating sea life IN
those waters, and the practicability of
raising oysters. The result of the in
vestigatiOn has been to greatly enlarge
the volume of current knowledge of
the fauna of the sea waters, and to
demonstrate that there are numerous.
productive fisheries there, of which
the existence. has been hitherto uTl-
known. The actual work of the AL
batross began Jan. 5, when the traWl
was cast in 236 fathons Of water in the
Cortez banks. about twelve miles from
Point Conception. Fish swarmed i'll
great numbers and variety over the
banks, which are the richest found so
far in the Pacific. Flatheads, white
fish, yellowtail rock cod and four speci-
readily. San Nicholas island was found
rather barren, but here Prof. Gilbert,
the naturalist of the expedition. dis
covered - s+.&7
- A PHENOMENON OF NATURE, y
Generally attributed to Whirl-WindS) in
the shape OF a turnpike, perfectly
straight as far as the eye could see,
nine feet wide, crOWel crowned Ill the
center, and with cutters sunk six to
eight inches. Rich hauiS were made at
Beecher's bay in about 270 fathoms Of
water. The fish taken included four
species of black cod of excellent flavor,
and also the deep water sole, one of the
best sea fishes of the Pacific coast. At
Watsen's rock. a party sent out from
the ship, captured more than LOCO
pounds of fish in less than two hours.
Guadalupe island and Altos rocks were
found to lie barren, but around Clarion
island fish SWarmed in great numbers.
Forty-six species. of which twenty,
were edible, were taken. Sharks made
fish not found on Clarion. island were
taken from near Socorro island, the
largest of this group. Hump-back
whales constantly ploughed their way
through the sea in full sight. Thou
sands Of sea birds. man-Of-war hawks
and boobies made their home on San
Benedicto.an island upon which neither
wood. water. nor even a bush could be-
seen. The Gulf of California then be-
came the objective point, and in the
vicinity Of Cape San Lucas the Alba
ttfoSs investigated reports that have long
been current of islands, rocks and reefs
in the neighborhood. 3Their non'exiSt-
ence was established by seundings. and
it was also :. demonstrated: that the
islands commencing with Gnadaloupes;
and extending to Los AlijoS and the
Revilla Gigardo group are :, = > .s...: ssas-
Z r ISOLATED K0HeANIcs. EEyPTIoNss * y
entirely independent of the continent,
and of one another. The gulf was en-
tered on March, IL, and the ground
ally covered with oyster shells alive and
dead, at depth of from ten, to twelve
fathoms. Numbers of fish were taken
in the gulf and at George island plenty
of squeteague and a species of sea bass
weighing from 60 to 100 pounds were
taken. Many sea birds and a. rookery
of sea lions were also discovered. At
one place the fish were taken in such
numbers that the captain was obliged
to put stop to the sport. Gill-net fish
ing throughout the gulf was found to
be impracticable on account of the
sharks and dogfish. Off San. Louis
island In the latter part of March sea
lions, whales and porpoiSes abounded,
the last named being very wild.
Gov. CerYantez and large number
of gentlemen who visited the ship were
greatly surpri sed to see the great varl-
ETY. of marine fauna which had been
fonnd many of which they had never
seen or heard of. Excellent oysters
were found to be plentiful off Algo-
done's lagoon, about the Yaqui river.
At low tide these oysters are eXpOSed to
view and the Indians collect them by
hand. The fishing grounds of Man-of-
War cove and Bay Of San Bartolome
did not sustain the reputation they
have. 49, .-e~ -.
Investigations by Prof, Gilbert
and MI. Alexander showed that no shad
existed in the ella and Colorado rivers,
the waters having proved unadapted to
the shad planted there by: the COMMITS
sion. German carp, however, We're =
FOUND TO HAVE THRIVEN WELL.
Large numbers of halibut and rock
cod were found off Cape Flattery, and
when the trawl was set in water from
475 to 76O fathoms deep many unrecog-
nized specimens of fish were taken be-.
side founders, deep sea sole, Norway
haddock. MacrusuS and hog fish, sea
shrimp, seaurchins, holothurians, ophi-
urans, star fish. sea anemones, crinoids,
penalties and hermit crabs were. also
pulled up. Black cod were caught at
S59 fathoms depth, the greatest depth
in which they have been found. A fine
sandy bottom was Indicated =.