St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-27
JOCKEYS OF THE SEA.
Birds That Save Labor by Perch
ing Upon Denizens of the Deem.

Birds That Save Labor nv Perch.
ing Upon Denizens of the Deem,
/ Eyes, we see some curious things
once In a WHILE" said San Pedro
nsnerman. "A few days ago 1 made a.
trip over the Santa Catalina channel
Tor load of abalones that they pile
up at the 1Sthmus for me every few
months. and when 1 got off there
ABOUT ten miles saw a big loon sit
t1ng on what seemed like a spar.
But while 1 watched it seemed to
IAN OF, then circled around several
times and alighted again, retaining
It's position with much difficulty.
We slowly drifted until we were
within fifty feet of it, when I saw what
the roost was-not a spar at all, but a
big f1sh-one of those fellows the Ital-
1ans call the luna. because it was like
the moon.
The fish lay almost fiat on the water.
with one big fin sticking out, the other
being under water, and the weight
OF the bird made it lie over to one
side. AS we neared it the bird rose I'D
and flew away and the fish straight
ened up.
/ saw something about as curious
last year." continued the fisherman.
In August the waters of the islands
off here from San Clements up are
filled with fish that are spawning. The
water will then be covered in places
with small birds that look like snipe.
ION this trip 1 kept my eye out for
whales. When about half way over,
right in midchannel, L saw the spout
of a big gray whale, and the next min
ute saw the back of the whale, about
twenty feet Of it, black as ink, on the
blue water. To my surprise it did not
disappear and soon concluded that
the big creature was either asleep or
lying on the surface summing itself. AS
we came nearer I saw at least fifty
little birds running about on it's back,
feeding, evidently having a. feast upon
the various parasites on the whales
back
'They ran up and down just as they
would on a beach, and it occurred to
me that it was not an accident, but
that there was some understanding be-
tween the whale and the birds; in other
words, the whale knew that the birds
were relieving him of many parasites
that it could not get rid of in any other
way and consequently submitted to
their running over it.
ION another occasion, as was cruis-
I ing down by Ensenada, I ran into a
little bay one day and saw what sup
posed to be log floating on the sur
| face. On it were numerous birds,
walking about, others apparently
asleep. AS we ran in nearer 1 saw
tat it was a big sea turtle, asleep on
the surface, and the birds had alighted
upon its broad back as they would
have-done upon floating timber"
There are other sea jockeys than
those mentioned. The writer some
time ago caught a large hammerhead
shark off Redondo beach. The big
creature .towed the boat along for near
ly an hour and when brought in sight
of the boat it was seen to have several
riders-fish, almost pure black and
foot in length-which were attached
to the shark. They were clinging to
the shark by q. curious sucker on the
back of the head that resembled the
Stats of the Venetian blind, and the sue
ton was so powerful that when the
plate or sucker was attached it was
extremely difficult to pull it off by
main force.