N O R T H C O A S T T IM E S E A G L E , JULY/AUGUST2004
SECTION B PAGE 1
OUR DELICATE PLANET
WORDS & ART BY ROBERT C. WILSON
This special section of the North Coast Times Eagle is essentially a ch a n ce to celebrate
the Born Again Bird's silver anniversary with four pages of color, a first in the paper's bifurcated
lifespan. The id e a first occurred when Robert Wilson displayed the original paintings of the
turtles an d dolphins on these pages. The Times Eagle has printed portions of the original black
A white renditions of his two charts, ‘Fishes of the Pacific Coast' a n d ‘Sea Creatures of the
Pacific Coast', which evolved into color. He credits the NCTE with inspiring him to create the
popular charts after a two p ag e display in the June 1989 issue of sea life he h ad drawn as
a project in pursuit of an associates of science degree in oceanographic technology from
Clatsop Comm unity College a n d a bachelor of science deg ree in M arine Biology from
Evergreen State College a t Olym pia, Washington. He was raised in the midwest and has
lived on the Pacific Coast for m ore than 30 years, most of which he has w orked as a
com m ercial fisherman. He served in the Vietnam War as a U.S. M arine a n d organized the
Astoria chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. ‘Our Delicate Planet’ is from a
coloring book for school children he wrote and illustrated, “Fishes o f the Pacific Coast".
-M ichael Paul McCusker, editor & publisher
The oceans cover more than 75% of our planet. In comparison to the
neighboring landmass, humanity has a narrow understanding of it.
Instead we look toward the stars, dreaming about what it would be like to
venture to other worlds when we have such a limited knowledge about our own.
Those worlds can wait, but concern for our own cannot.
In the past and the present there have been a few great adventurers who
have probed the dark mysterious depths of the oceans and have found life forms
far beyond their own imaginations, life that has evolved very little over millions of
years.
Some of the fishes along our own Pacific Ocean coastline have remained
unchanged for millions of years.
Humanity is the newcomer to this planet, yet billions of pounds of toxic
wastes are being dumped into the oceans every day worldwide, eliminating many
of the special groups of species that help make up our ecosystem.
The more densely populated an ecosystem is, the more delicately it is
balanced. Pollution and overfishing have greatly upset this balance.
Humanity with its efficient mechanized equipment for taking advantage of
large schools of fish may well shift the balance and bring disaster to many groups
of these species offish.
Toxic chemicals that are dumped into the ocean drastically reduce the
plankton population which most of the smaller fish live on.
When a major food supply is depleted it also causes a decrease in the
predator species. No other species has had such an effect on the earth as homo
sapiens.
We have already cropped the ocean’s fisheries dangerously close to
the upper limits of biological possibilities. Only wise and careful management
practices will enable us to maintain even the present level of cropping without
destroying species most useful to us. Some of these fish have been so overfished
that it has caused total collapse of the fishery.
Conservation regulations should be made more enforceable and the
regulatory agencies put under the charge of competent biologists whose primary
concern is the preservation of ecosystems rather than the extraction of maximum
annual profits from them. More efficient use of so-called “trash” fish would elimin
ate much of the unnecessary waste which occurs in some fisheries.
Conservation starts with individuals like you, so make the difference!
DOLPHINS
BOTTLE NOSED DOLPHIN (TURSIOPS truncatus)
Length: 12 ft. (3.7 m.)
Range: In the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Venezuela, including the Gulf
of Mexico. In the Pacific Ocean from Southern California to the tropics.
The Bottle Nosed Dolphin feeds on a variety of fish such as squids, shrimp and
crabs, but will also feed on discarded fish from trawlers.
Also known as Bottlenosed Porpoise, Gray Porpoise, Common Porpoise and
Black Porpoise.
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN (LISSODOLPHIS borealis)
Length: 3m.
Range: From S. British Columbia to N. Baja California.
Northern Right Whale Dolphins are often timid, but are commonly seen riding the
bow wave of vessels. Feeds mainly on squid and mid-water fishes.