The Scientific Second Half of the ‘Sea of Cortez’
by
Joel W. Hedgpeth
in
San Francisco Chronicle
December 14, 1941
This World Section, page 26


Compiled by
Robert 'Roy' J van de Hoek
Field Biologist & Geographer
Sierra Club and Wetlands Action Network

To the general reader, lured this far by the narrative part of the book, the second half of the “Sea of Cortez,” may seem a wilderness of uncouth nomenclature and meticulous minutiae, leavened somewhat ably by a generous section of a photographs and drawings of some of the commoner animals. To the marine biologist, however, this is the important part of the book, for these seemingly unpronounceable names and the annotated bibliographies which accompany them are signposts and traveling directions for one of the world’s most interesting faunal provinces, and this appendix will hereafter be indispensable for students of the marine invertebrates of the Gulf of California.

The authors make no pretense that this annotated list is complete, but prefer to call it “a scientific appendix comprising materials for a source book on the marine animals of the Panamic faunal province,” The same careful searching of the literature (as the technical papers are capriciously called) and consultataions with specialists which made “Between Pacific Tides” so valuable a book are evident in this work, and it may in some ways be considered a complementary volume to “Between Pacific Tides.” Indeed, the revised edition of the latter book may include cross references to “Sea of Cortez.” It is no refleciton upon the authors but upon our incomplete and haphazard knowledge of the fauna of our own backyard that the first general account of this fauna is not much more than an outline.

Although restricted principally to the littoral fauna of the Gulf of California during a period of six weeks, over 500 species of animals were collected, a far better record than that made by several more formal and handsomely endowed expeditions which have invaded the region. The echinoderms, larger mollusks and crabs are especially well represented and a fair collection of shore fishes was also made. There are omissions, inevitable because of the limitations of time and energy as well as the scarcity of good papers on certain groups. The limitation to a single short collecting season may account for the interesting failure to collect any sea spiders, as well as for other less obvious gaps in the collections. The sea anemones are omitted entirely from the appendix although frequently mentioned in the narrative, and several other groups are touched but lightly, yet on the whole the authors have succeeded in the intention of producing a source book rather than a handbook.

Popular accounts of expeditons have long been staple reading fare, but the actual results have too often been lost in the dusty tomes of libraries and museum cubbyholes. This is the first large-scale attempt to include both phases of this particular sort of human activity in one volume, and it would be interesting, if it were possible, to learn what influence this book may have on the development or formation of coming generations of biologists. Certainly no reader can look at this appendix and still entertain the delusion that a scientific expedition is nothing more than an affair of moonlit nights and enrapatured contemplation of awe and strange animals, a delusion that Dr. Beebe has done little to dispel. Not that scientific expeditions are devoid of their romantic moments, but such popularization has all too often prevented the reader from realizing the vast amount of work yet to be done to bring together and correlate the widely scattereed information in order that it may assume its proper place in our knowledge. Neither John Steinbeck nor Edward Ricketts believe that the study of biology, especially the amazingly varied and complete life of the tidal regions, should be the exclusive fare of indefatigable museum drones, and that conviction is the inspiration of “Sea of Cortez,” enlivening even the remoter sections of the technical appendix.

Closing Comment
by
Robert 'Roy' J. van de Hoek
Field Biologist and Geographer

Here is another gem of writing critique by Joel Hedgpeth. There will be more thoughts on Joel Hedgpeth, John Steinbeck, Ed Ricketts, and the Sea of Cortez at a later time and place.