Download - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute - Smithsonian ...

Vol. XXXIX: Supplement THE FESTIVUS Page 7
1958 “Doldrums Expedition” aboard the research vessel
Spencer F. Baird, focused mainly on sea and weather
conditions. A number of biologists were left for two and
a half weeks (7-26 August 1958) to study the flora and
bird fauna of Clipperton. The year 1958 was a new era
for scientific collecting because SCUBA was used for
the first time at Clipperton. The maximum depth was 40
m and diving at all depths was seriously restricted by the
necessity to use a shark cage for protection from the
prolific shark population (Figure 13). Emerson (1993)
recounted a harrowing tale from Carl L. Hubbs (SIO)
(in litt. to Charles M. Breder, 14 March 1957) as
follows: “The outer margin [of Clipperton] is so
excessively full of sharks, the collectors are not very
anxious to work there. The sharks were so numerous
that they actually bit the oars of boats being rowed along
the shore, and paid very little attention to shark
repellent. In fact one of them came in and swallowed the
bag of repellent that was used in a vain effort to get in
collecting at a certain spot.”
Figure 13. Silky shark off Clipperton, 1994. Photo: J. Black.
Allison (1959), one of the “Doldrums Expedition”
scientists, reported on the occurrence and habitat of five
species of Conus found at the Island. Following that,
Hertlein and Allison (1960a) listed 12 species of
Cypraea that were primarily collected on the 1956 and
1958 Expeditions. A third contribution in the series by
Hertlein and Allison (1960b) listed 34 species and
included all other mollusk family representatives
collected on the two Expeditions.
A remarkable scientist on the “Doldrums
Expedition” was Marie-Hélèn Sachet, a French botanist.
Sachet was charged with making a comprehensive
survey of life on the atoll and made significant
contributions in studying the geology and the marine and
terrestrial flora and fauna of Clipperton, including the
most comprehensive list of mollusk species for that time
(Sachet, 1960, 1962a-c, 1963). During the 19-day stay
on the island, 58 pigs, which had been introduced at the
end of the 19 th century, were eradicated. Their thought
was to give the marine bird populations (Figure 14),
land crabs (Gecarcinus planatus) (Figure 15), and other
fauna a better chance of survival.
Figure 14. Masked boobie pair with chick (Sula dactylatra) and
persistent land crab, 2005. Photo: C. Fresser.
Figure 15. Bright orange Gecarcinus planatus Stimpson, 1860,
moving boobie egg to its lair, 2005. Photo: J.-M. Bompar.
Eight years after its first visit, SIO’s R/V Spencer F.
Baird, during the “Carrousel Expedition” of 1964,
brought up mollusks during dredging operations around
Clipperton. Hertlein & Allison (1966) reported on 35
species from the 92-meter dredge hauls, along with all
other mollusks recognized in Clipperton collections that
had not been previously inventoried. Unfortunately, the
present repositories of the specimens are unknown.
Still examining unidentified material collected on