Ocean
Watch
Monday, May 31, 1999
Two books to delight
ocean lovers
From the first moment I donned a mask and snorkel and
dipped my face in the ocean, I have had questions about marine
invertebrates.
What do you call that? I want to know when I see
something new.
How does it eat? Why does it behave like that? Can it
hurt me? Where does it live?
These questions seem elementary, but believe me, the
answers can be hard to come by. After years of trying to get information
about Hawaii's invertebrates for my readers, my friends and myself, I have
found few books that fill the bill.
Now, my frustration has ended with the recent debut of
two new books about Hawaii's marine invertebrates. And not only are their
pictures pretty and the information sound, but these books are providing
me with more fun in marine biology than I've had since my first course at
the University of Hawaii.
One book is "Hawaii's Sea Creatures" by John
Hoover ($23.95); the other is "Hawaiian Coral Reef Ecology" by
David Gulko ($24.95). Both are from Mutual Publishing in Honolulu.
So far, I haven't been able to dredge up a Hawaii
invertebrate question not answered by one of these two informative books.
Hoover's book is designed as a standard guide to
Hawaii's marine invertebrates. No one book, of course, could include every
one of Hawaii's invertebrate species, but at more than 500, this book
covers most of those any of us will ever see.
While reading, I frequently found myself thinking,
"Oh, so that's what those are."
For instance, I've always been fuzzy on the kinds of
crabs people catch to eat in Hawaii.
Near my home, I often see fisherfolk dangling traps
from a bridge spanning the Waialua River. The water is brackish there, and
the crabs they bring up are big, gray, snappish things with claws that
look like they could take your finger off.
According to Hoover's book, these are Samoan crabs,
so-called because this species was introduced to Hawaiian waters from
Samoa in the 1920s. But the crabs are not unique to Hawaii and Samoa. This
species is found from the Red Sea and east coast of Africa all the way to
Hawaii, probably spread much of the way by humans. These so-called Samoan
crabs (a local name only) grow to a whopping 9 inches wide.
Then there are Kona crabs, which belong to the frog
crab family. These are even more interesting to me, but you'll have to
either buy the book or wait for a future column to find out about them
because I must save room to express my professional opinion on Dave
Gulko's coral reef book:
It's hilarious. And I mean that as the highest
compliment.
Two friends and I examined this book together, and we
cracked up anew at the turn of each page. This isn't to say that the book
isn't scientifically accurate. It is. It's jam-packed with facts, concepts
and theories. But Gulko presents the material in such a funny, refreshing
way, it takes the drudgery out of learning.
Take the section called "Life as a Coral Larval
Form, or I was a Teenage Planula." With some of the most entertaining
illustrations I have ever seen in a biology book, Gulko explains a coral's
life. A cute, fuzzy larva rides currents upon a tiny surfboard, wears a
hat and sunglasses to survive the sun's ultraviolet rays, and eats a bag
lunch or fast food or a snack on the job. I'm smiling just writing about
this little guy.
This book is loaded with these graphics, but it also
contains hundreds of superb color photos of the plants and animals of
Hawaii's reefs.
These are two books that will never collect dust on my
shelf. Reading them is too much fun.
