fishes ( Scarus perspicillatus , Chlorurus gibbus , 

 and at least two other species, probably S. 

 sordidus and S. brunneus) , surgeonfishes ( Acan - 

 thurus trlostegus . A. achilles , A. nigricans , 

 and A^. guttatus), butterflyfishes ( Chaetodon 

 setifer, C. auriga , C. lunula , C. quadrimacu - 

 latus , and Forcipiger longirostris ) , grouper 

 (probably Cephalopholis argus ), porgy ( Mono - 

 taxis graduculis ), wrasse ( Thallassoma um - 

 brostigma) , triggerfishes ( Melichthys vidua and 

 M. buniva), puffers (probably Diodon hystrix 

 and Arothron meleagris ), damselfishes ( Poma - 

 centrus nigricans and Dascyllus aruanus), and 

 squirrelfish (probably Holocentrus lacteogutta - 

 tus). Two unidentified species of jacks (Ca- 

 rangidae) were numerous. 



Although there were numerous fish around 

 the reefs close to the ship, we later found, 

 after subsequent dives, that other areas on the 

 reef front farther away from the source of pol- 

 lution were more densely populated than the 

 reef front near the R. C. Stoner . During the 

 period of greatest petroleum spillage, many 

 fish in the wreck area were probably either 

 killed or driven away. 



The reef flat directly inshore of the wrecked 

 ship is about 0.5 to 2 m deep at low tide and 

 about 125 m wide, the widest such area on this 

 coast. We found it nearly barren of fish. The 

 bottom is flat, covered with coralline rubble 

 with few coral heads. One would not expect 

 such a reef normally to support a very large 

 population of fishes, but neither would it be ex- 

 pected to be as depauperate as it was. Prob- 

 ably, many of the fish in this area had been 

 either killed or driven off. 



Sea Off Wake Island Between the 

 Harbor and Peacock Point 



Time and weather permitted us to make two 

 underwater surveys off this coast (surveys 2 

 and 3, Figure 1). Both surveys were made in 

 areas where considerable numbers of fish had 

 been stranded on the shore. 



On September 15, the wind was still strong 

 from the southwest. A heavy sea was breaking 

 on the reef 2.5 km southeast of the harbor, 

 where we made survey 2. Weather reports 

 indicated that typhoon Sarah would pass very 

 close to Wake in about 48 hr and sea conditions 

 were poor for diving. However, we decided it 

 would be best to survey the polluted coast out- 

 side the reef as best we could before the ty- 

 phoon arrived. We were unable to find any 

 passes through the reef so scuba was not used. 



The heavy turbulence on the reef flat made 

 visibility poor. The reef flat there is about 

 30 m wide and has numerous coral formations. 

 It should support a substantial fish population; 

 however, we saw relatively few fish. The 

 dominant groups were various scarids (not in- 

 cluding adult humpback parrotfish, C. gibbus ). 

 and acanthurids, the latter mostly A. trlostegus 

 and A. achilles . We saw no grouper or squir- 

 relfish. There was no petroleum or dead fish 

 in the water. At least part of the sparsity of 

 fish on the shelf was probably due to the heavy 

 seas. 



The reef front drops off steeply to a depth of 

 about 8 m. Visibility was better than on the 

 flat. There were numerous rock and coral 

 formations and a myriad of fish. Time did not 

 allow us to obtain any data on the density of the 

 fish population on the seaward side of the reef. 

 However, on the basis of past experience, we 

 considered the population to be high. This 

 population included a wide range of the common 

 reef groups. The most numerous species were 

 generally the same ones that were the most 

 plentiful in the kill: several species of parrot- 

 fishes; surgeonfishes, predominantly A. trl - 

 ostegus and A. achilles ; several species of 

 groupers, mostly C. argus , and various poma- 

 centrids and chaetodontids. Exceptions were 

 squirrelfish, few of which were seen, and adult 

 humphead parrotfish, which was numerous out- 

 side the reef but apparently absent in the kill. 



Shortly after crossing the reef, we encount- 

 ered numerous blacktip sharks, Carcharhinus 

 melanopterus . During this survey and subse- 

 quent surveys outside the reef, we were fre- 

 quently pestered by sharks, most of them 1.2 

 to 1.5 m long. They were extremely curious 

 and persisted in making close passes, frequent- 

 ly coming within less than 1 m of us. They 

 were remarkably bold and did not scare easily. 

 Local skindivers considered the abundance and 

 boldness of the blacktips as very unusual. The 

 only way we can account for their concentration 

 and behavior is that the sharks had been at- 

 tracted to the area by dead fish and had become 

 conditioned to finding abundant food drifting 

 around. Such conditioning might result in im- 

 mediate attack behavior, without the prelimin- 

 ary investigation usually more characteristic 

 of sharks. The behavior of the sharks was a 

 little disconcerting and hindered us somewhat, 

 as we had to keep a constant watch in order to 

 chase them off. It is interesting to note that no 

 shark was reported in the kill. 



