I have on my desk several new items of interest for marine animal fans. One is made of paper, and the others swim among the colorful reefs of my iPad.
The one that’s got me hooked on electronic identification guides is John Hoover’s new iPad app called "Fish ID Hawaii Pro" for $11.99. Here’s how good it is: When my husband saw how much fun I was having couch snorkeling, he bought the app for his iPad, too.
The Pro is different from other electronic guides because it contains videos. Shot mostly by Bishop Museum research associates John Earle and Rob Whitton, Pro features more than 300 videos to show the fish in real life.
Night diving with manta rays on the Kona Coast was never this comfortable.
Two other iPad gems I recently bought are children’s books by Hawaii’s National Marine Fisheries Service scientist Jeff Polovina. I haven’t met Jeff, but I know his name from some of his 115 research papers, and the awards they garnered, in his 30-plus years of studying the Pacific Ocean.
Jeff recently branched out from his groundbreaking research to write a couple of stories for budding marine scientists in the form of Alexis, an Ocean Detective Agent. The children’s e-book series piqued my interest because I didn’t know the answer to one of Jeff’s mysteries and had to buy the nicely illustrated book "The Case of the Outlaw Dolphins" ($0.99) to find out.
One day Miguel, a fisherman, asks Alexis to solve a problem: Dolphins are stealing fish from Miguel’s hooks, but curiously, the dolphins don’t eat the fish; they play with them. Why are the dolphins doing this?
The bottlenose dolphins are signaling the fisherman that he is in their territory. Jeff likens it to a dog barking when someone enters its yard. By stealing the fish, the dolphins are claiming their space.
As for the other mystery, "The Case of the Fish with the Curious Bite," I knew the answer because I’ve written about the rascals that take Oreo-size bites out of fish and marine mammals: These parasitic fish are named cookie cutter sharks.
The other marine guide I’ve been enjoying is an 84-page paperback, "Midway: A Guide to the Atoll and its Inhabitants," by Florida residents Connie Toops and Phyllis Greenberg. It’s on sale for $14.95 through UH Press, goo.gl/4cga9.
Naturally, this guide includes facts about the seabirds and other marine wildlife of this National Wildlife Refuge. But I also like learning more about the human history and non-native animals there.
We moan today, for instance, about the cost of flying to Midway, currently about $2,400, round trip, from Honolulu. But in 1936 flying there one way on the Pan Am Clipper cost $800 — $13,115 in today’s dollars.
And those canaries. In the early 20th century, Pacific Cable workers released 13 canaries "to enliven the environment."
Mission accomplished. Today everyone enjoys the 3,000 or so yellow songbirds that fly free around the human-inhabited Sand Island.
I’ve been so busy with several writing projects that at the end of the day, all I want to do is lie on the couch. Lately I take my iPad and Midway guides with me and go exploring from there.
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Reach Susan Scott at www.susanscott.net.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had a sale price for the book ³Midway: A Guide to the Atoll and its Inhabitants² that expired May 7. The current price is $14.95.
