Well, Officer, We're Poaching!

The Washington State Fish and Wildlife game warden pulled up next to the boat. "Whatcha fishing for?" he asked.

"Bocaccio," Nick replied.

The game warden gave him a skeptical look, owing to the fact that Puget Sound bocaccio rockfish are an endangered species, totally off-limits to fishermen.

"And canary," Nick continued.

The canary rockfish, a lovely orange-creamsicle with scales, is listed as threatened in our area.

"Really," responded the game warden, not sure now whether he was kidding.

"Oh! and yelloweye," Nick finished, naming the third and final species of threatened rockfish in the Sound. [Click here to read about my impromptu beach necropsy of a dead yelloweye!]

The warden's eyes got wide as he began to believe Nick's story. I've caught the dumbest poachers in Washington State! he must have been thinking.

That's when Nick hit him with the final piece of information. "Oh, and we're with NOAA under a federal fisheries research permit."

Nick keeps the game warden on his toes.

Sadly, I was not present when this conversation took place. I've heard it retold by my NOAA Hollings Scholarship mentor, Nick, and I can only imagine that game warden's face. I was, however, lucky enough to accompany Nick and a band of dedicated local anglers on a similar mission.

Our goal was to obtain genetic samples of these three endangered species of rockfish to determine whether their south Puget Sound populations were distinct from their open coastal counterparts, as had been predicted when these populations were given endangered status, or if they moved and bred freely with coastal fishes.

The yelloweyes, canaries and bocaccios evaded us that day, but I proudly hauled up one brown rockfish, Sebastes auricuculatus.

My most exciting catch, the relatively common a brown rockfish.

We measured each fish before releasing it with a special weighted pressure-release clip that held the fish by its lower jaw without damaging it.

The rockfishes, used to being at depths of at least 100 feet, had a little expansion trouble at the surface. This one's stomach can be seen protruding from its mouth. The hope is that everything returns to its normal deflated state once the fish is released at depth.

The crew also caught two species of sculpin: a buffalo or Enophrys bison, shown here, and a red Irish lord or Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus, my personal favorite. I sure wish I could have magically shipped these guys back in time and space to Friday Harbor Labs, where my Puddle research crew could have studied the functional morphology of their jaw muscles!

A buffalo sculpin shows off his preopercular spines and makes cute little growling sounds.

But mostly we caught dogs. By which I mean sharks.

"I got a big one!!!"

A spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, to be exact.

Another dog!

Did I mention it was Shark Week?

We recorded the size and sex of each dogfish we caught, even though we weren't there for shark research. The day's motto: "Don't waste an opportunity to take data because you'll never know when you might need it!" I lost count around fifty. Next time you're trying to sex a shark, just remember:

A male spiny dogfish has two claspers, modified pelvic fins that transfer sperm to the female during sexual reproduction.

A female spiny dogfish has no claspers. 

Dude, that's private!

We also hooked some unexpected invertebrates...

Such as this scallop.

And this purple sea star, Pisaster ochraceus.

We didn't accomplish our goal of sampling endangered rockfish genetics, but we had a great time out on the water. There's no such thing as a bad day spent boating on the Puget Sound, sandwiched between silver water and pewter sky.

I think these gulls, hitching a leisurely ride on a barge of sand, would certainly agree.

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Undercover Shark Market Monitoring

We do monitor the shark bycatch at the morning fish market, but it's not really undercover. All the fishermen know what we're up to. But I've heard the fisherman used to be a lot more friendly about the counting and measuring before the new bycatch regulations and penalties started popping up due to our data.

The fish market is held right there on the beach.

The frigatebirds steal fish out of the buckets the fisherman carry on their heads.

Some frigatebirds don't wait until the fish is brought to land to steal their fill.

The harbor at Puerto Lopez is a small city of boats.

The fish are prepared right away by one of the fillet women.

These ladies are skilled with a knife and and tough as nails.

A pair of volunteers visits the shark market every morning, Monday through Saturday. (The market is closed on Sundays.) It's a bustling place, located directly on the sandy beach between the road and the ocean. When the tide is high, water laps around the table legs and the fish vendors' shoes.

The market draws all types of people, from the discerning French woman who owns a restaurant to haggling businessmen holding a cellphone to each ear. There is always one poised, older Ecuadorian woman in a floral skirt-suit who effortlessly commands the respect of everyone in sight. She walks through the muddy, bloody water in her pumps without batting an eye, and walks out of the market with exactly the fish she came to purchase.

Dorado, or dolphinfish, is the staple of the market.

You can also find more exotic seafood like octopus and squid.

Whatever kind of fish these were, a lot of them were gravid with eggs.

Our job at the fish market is to record the number, species, and sex of sharks brought in by fishermen. It's illegal to catch sharks purposefully, but a certain amount of bycatch is legal. Like many laws in Ecuador, this one doesn't do much in practice. If a fisherman catches more than his quota of sharks, the fine is $1 per shark. We're not there to report violations or enforce the law -- we're just trying to collect data.

Sharks are finned as soon as they hit the sand.

I was astounded by how quickly a shark is reduced to its core body.

A bucket of shark heads.

Stray dogs lick the blood and carcasses for a morning treat.

There are six main species of shark which show up at the fish market: two hammerheads, two threshers, the angelote and the vieja. Occasionally, though, we get a surprise.

This species is called "angelote" because it looks like an angel.

One of the two thresher species, either Alopias superciliosus or A. pelagicus.

One of the two hammerhead species, either Sphyma zygaena or S. lewini.

This would be considered a surprise -- a tiger shark! Photo credit: Consue Vanessa Arboleda. 

You can buy more than just fish at the fish market -- there are vendors selling snacks, cookies, fruit, sunglasses, and even entire meals. A couple full-fledged restaurants in tents appear each  morning. I tried the breakfast one day and found it identical to the lunch: a heaping pile of rice, a slab of fresh fish in juice, and a couple slices of ripe fried plantain. I think I prefer that menu after noon!

A shopping cart of cold crunchy grapes and blocks of ice.

Vendors place scallions, apples, and assorted groceries on tarps alongside the catch-of-the-day.

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Stranded in Puerto López

Hey world,

I planned to leave Puerto López for the Galápagos Islands after a day or two. Well, the research permits didn’t work out right away, and my visa never came, and we are all on Ecuadorian Time after all. I integrated myself into Barbara’s turtle volunteering organization, Equilibrio Azul, and I’ve been here helping out with the turtles ever since.

I won’t bore you with the daily trials of life in Puerto López. Instead, I will focus each blog entry on a different aspect of the turtle conservation project. I’ve gotten the opportunity to do some pretty gnarly things, from ripping open dead eggs full of bacteria and fungus, to patrolling a restricted white-sand beach for nesting hawksbills at night, to snorkeling amidst jellyfish in search of tagged green turtles. I’ve also had my share of adventures of the bird-watching, horseback-riding, and scuba-diving variety.

Here is a tantalizing sneak peak at the entries to come:

Bomb scientists using tools to measure turtle tracks in the sand.

 Nest excavations and embryo autopsies.

Shark bycatch at the morning fish market.

Cute children painting the fence blue.

Mud ninjas.

Adolescent blue-footed boobies.

Big hawksbills in little boats.

And much more!

It’s not research in the Galápagos Islands as planned, but there are worse things than being stranded in Puerto López. I have enjoyed living these adventures – I hope you enjoy reading about them!

Yours truly,

Nina

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