Ocean Watch

In 1990, I spent a week on a live-aboard dive boat on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The experience was everything I'd hoped for, and on each dive, several fantastic new fish passed before my eyes.

The boat had fish identification books, but one was so popular I couldn't get to it. After each dive, someone would rush to the large tome and carry it to the upper deck, where people crouched over it for hours on end. Since these fellow fish-lovers spoke only Japanese, it was hard for me to join in.

One day, I emerged from the water first, grabbed the book and took it to my own corner. To my surprise, I found that Hawaii's fish expert Jack Randall was the first author of this big, beautiful book, called "Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea," and the University of Hawaii Press co-published it. The guide was one of our own.

My copy of that book is well worn now because I use it to look up tropical fish not found in Hawaii. Sometimes I find what I'm looking for, but not always. When I sailed to Tahiti in March, both my fish knowledge and my boat's library were sorely lacking.

No more. In May, UH Press published another guide by Jack Randall, called "Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific." It's another big volume, containing 2,000 photos of 1,500 fish. And like its companion, this terrific book will also have people crowding together on boat decks to look up fish. I can hardly wait.

Click to Enlarge book cover

OK, I'm not waiting. I've been crouching over the book on my desk when I'm supposed to be working. I can't stop myself. My boat awaits me in French Polynesia, and I when I go there next month to explore the region, I want to know which fish I can expect to see.

One species I'm looking forward to swimming with is the drop-dead-gorgeous emperor angelfish. The dark juveniles are covered with brilliant blue and white rings and look nothing like the elegant blue and yellow adults. Now I'll know they're the same species.

According to Jack, I'll have to sail west to Samoa to see the stunning dusky anemonefish. And if I go on to the Cook Islands, I might spot the red-and-white peppermint angelfish unique to those islands.

Or not. These brilliant-colored fish grow only 3 inches long and live in deep water. But that's OK. I enjoy knowing they're down there even if they don't show themselves.

As I browse, I'm discovering a whole world of fish I've yet to meet in Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. I especially want to see the stunning feminine wrasse, so-called because the female is more beautiful than the male, unusual among animals.

I can see I'll be thanking Jack and the UH Press for this scientific guide in coffee-table-book clothing all the way across the South Pacific. And heck, if I get to New Caledonia, I might as well sail on to Australia.

After all, I've got an excellent fish guide to the Great Barrier Reef.

"Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific" is $75 at local bookstores.