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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1963)
MEDFOKD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOKD. OREGON THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 12. 1S63 Mimioircaini Catches Porpoise (Editor's note: A familiar figure around our coasts but one seldom seen In captivity is the porpoise, an intelligent creature fascinating to both scientist and schoolchild. The art of catching the wily dolphin alive for exhibition and study purposes is known to few among them a Florida Minorcan with a unique mcth of fishing. In the following dispatch a UPI staffer de scribes the capture of a com paratively rare spotted por poise . . . literally by the tail.) By PATRICK HARDEN United Press International ST. AUGUSTINE (UPI) -Ronnie Capo hung perilously wer the bows of the speeding ioat, gripping a long, harpoon ike pole with iron pincers on me end poised for the strike. Four feet below him, just be neath the swirling waters of he Atlantic, skimmed the sleek, iark shadow of a spotted por poise, one of six which had played tag with the boat for 30 minutes. Lazily the dolphin broke the surface and rolled over the crest of a wave, its broad tail slapping the whitecaps cut by the vessel. "C'mon, papa, c'mon," Capo breathed as the cigarshaped mammal drifted closer and closer to the bow. "C'mon!" Then he struck, a swift down ward jerk of his right arm which clamped the pincers around the porpoise and fast- By The Taiil ened a tape-bound rope about its thrashing tail. The water boiled. The wooden pole spun in one direction and Capo grabbed the rigging and leaped clear as the 300-pound mammal coursed out to sea dragging hundreds of feet of heavy rope from the boat. When the snorting dolphin re turned to the surface to breathe some 250 feet from the boat, Capo grabbed the rope and be gan to slow it down. Then he and mate Joe LeBlanc began the 20-minute task of "landing" the porpoise, a job almost as difficult as snaring its tail. Capo, a bronzed, bearded Minorcan with a rare knowledge of the sea, has been catching the black-and-white spotted dolphin by the tail for years. His unique "tail snare" meth od is both humane and prac tical, but exacting. When stalk ing a porpoise at 10 knots with a 50-foot boat . . . "You only have one chance; miss your shot and the porpoise will scare away all the others in the school," Capo said. "The spotted dolphin is hard to find and the chances are 25-1 against catching one . . . they've been clocked at better than 30 knots." Capo is head of the collecting crew for Marineland of Florida, the oceanarium located on the coast about 18 miles south of St. Augustine. His boat, the Porpoise III is an unusual ves sela sort of cross between a shrimper and a freighter with a ll-by-14 foot steel tank in her belly and a 4-foot wide door to the outside sea cut in the hull. The door, built with the base about one foot under water, al lows larger catches such as shark, grouper and porpoise to be hauled from the sea directly into the live tank rather than over the side, prevents injury Capo said Capo, a slight figure who j a pair of spring-loaded blunt looks more like a jazz musician ) pincers on the business end. than an expert fisherman, and LeBlanc, a burly Cajun and one time shrimper, had sighted the small group of spotted dolphin playing about 10 miles off the coast. Tolstoy Invention LeBlanc took the wheel and steered for the school while This method Capo prepared his "tail snar" to the catch, an invention of Ilia Tolstoy, grandson of the famous Russian It was through this door the i writer. thrashing, squeaking female As improved by Capo, the porpoise came aboard. I tail snare is a 12-foot pole with The pincers hold a noose-rope which is snapped around the mammal's tail. The pole falls free after the strike, leaving the uninjured porpoise free to swim until hauled in. For 30 minutes the boat, with Capo poised on the bow, had chased the six playful porpoises. "These fellas like to ride the waves cut by the bow," Capo explained. "You can often see them catching a free ride just ahead of ocean liners or shrimp boats." Three times a calf swum within striking distance, but each time his mother chased him away and the small school moved further out to sea. "They won't run t o d a y," groaned Capo disgustedly. "All except the little fella . . . and his momma won't let him. They just aren't in the mood." But minutes later another large porpoise came to ride the waves, drifted into range . . . and Capo struck with perfect aim. Haul To Boat Working the rope hand-over hand, Capo and LeBlanc stead-1 hitting her nose or dorsal fin ily hauled the porpoise to the on the steel sides. boat. Then the Cajun dropped into the deep 'live lank,' opened the sea-door and dragged the porpoise in with his bare hands. "It isn't so difficult as it looks," Capo said. "After all, we have control of the tail and the tail is the dolphin's source of power." Gently, like a father handling a child, LeBlanc settled the seven-foot long dolphin com fortably in the tank, blocked in on either side by boards to keep her from twisting and "She's very nervous," said LeBlanc, his clothing dripping on the deck. "But she's in fine shape ... not a mark on her. But we should get her home quickly anyway." Porpoise Splashes The porpoise splashed quietly in the tank as the Porpoise III sped into harbor where attend ants waited to haul the catch on a special, stretcher-like ap paratus from the 'live tank' on to a mattress-covered truck for the trip to Marineland. "Finding and catching the spotted dolphin is only half the battle," Capo said. "Keeping them alive and happy until they get in the exhibition tank is almost as difficult. , . ." At the oceanarium the por poise was placed in a special tank until she had got over her nerves and adapted to captiv ity; given a careful inspection for injury; offered a fat meal of butterfish, then loosed into the massive exhibition tank to join her cousins. Capo, nursing a sore right arm, settled for a beer. INJURED GIRL AIDED A policeman and a friend reach down to aid an unconscious girl on the ground at West End High school in Birmingham, Ala. The girl was knocked down when she was caught between an unruly demonstrator and police. She was not seriously hurt. (UPI) The Family Council Editor's note: The Famtlr Council consists phyohJatrist, three clergymen, three editors ana of a Judge. women's editor. bach article Is a sumrvary of a family disagreement presented to the Council Ihe Council dials with problems, major and minor, ncountfid by guidance counselor! and lucial workers. Edited by Joan L. My sister is head- L 1 THE NEW POPE'S AIDE- Who Grew Up in America! Here is the little-known story of the New York schoolboy, Msgr. Ignio Cardinale, who has reached the inner circle of the Vati can hierarchy. Barrett McGurn, farmer president of the Vatican foreign correspondents' association, writes the fas cinating story of the most Americanized prelate ever to reach the highest levels of the Catholic Church in the feature-packed SEPTEMBER 1STH Weekend litue of Family Weekly with your copy of the MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE ed for a broken heart. Martha L. I understand Tom's problems. She doesn't. Joan L. I'm afraid Martha is leading with her chin and will get hurt. She acts as though Tom is the only man she'll ever get to look at her and she be lieves all his excuses for not proposing. When he blows the whistle, she runs whether it's expensive, far, inconveni ent. He won't go out of his way at all. Martha L. My sister is old er but she's never been really in love like me. That's why she's so hard on Tom and tells me he's only out for his own inter ests, not mine. I know his job comes first right now so I don't expect him to knock himself out traveling to see me. Money is the big obstacle to our mar riage for he must support his parents. The Council: Many people who fall in "love" are just emo tional kids who call it love. What they "fall" in is more like a daze, a self - hypnosis. Real love and this is the definition The Council swears by is an irresistible urge to give wonder ful things to the beloved, things like comfort, freedom, self-expression. There's hardly a thought of receiving . . . Does Tome love Martha? The test come by changing the first 2 letters of the word. Make it "give." Will he aim to give her as much as possible and. ex tending the same word, will he give in. will he forgive? Evi dently Martha hasn't had much opportunity to put Tom's "love" for her to this test, but has passed her side of the test with flying colors. Joan fears that her sister is in one-sided love which is as fanciful as a three cornered moon and just as elu sive. It's up to Martha to probe Tom s relationship toward her. Is he merely "taking" what she so loyally offers? Or Is he also dedicated to giving her peace of mind, security? If the former, he loves only himself. If the latter, he loves her and a for mal engagement is in the offing. You Can Count on Us . . . Quality Costs No More at Sears ft 7? A nnmsai 4 HONE Open Monday and Friday Evenings Till 9 Brand New For 1964.. SAVE OVER $40 TV RECLINERS Regular Price 159.95 Sears Low Sale Price nia 88 Deluxe tall biscuit tuffted back. Extra heavy expanded plastic covering will hold in any position. Beautifully tail- Extra strong and dur Many colors to choose Save Over $20 Bunk Beds Regular 119.95 Sears Low Sale Price &hi!88 Complete Bunk bed of hardwood Salem Maple fin ish. Includes the beds, ladder, guard rail, metal bunk bed rails. 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