2 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 1 



tion on such land forms as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects, and 

 such shore forms as mollusks and Crustacea. The plant collecting was 

 confined, almost entirely, to the terrestrial species. When the results of 

 this collecting were reported, a wider interest in the Eastern Tropical 

 Pacific was aroused, and scientific expeditions were organized to carry 

 investigation further; for by this time the sea had become definitely 

 established as a suitable medium for biological investigation, although, 

 as yet, ecological relationships and detailed distribution came into con- 

 sideration very little. For that reason, the itinerary usually provided for 

 but a short stay in any locality, and there was little variety added to the 

 type of information obtained, even though the amount of information 

 was materially increased. 



With some significant exceptions then, the expeditions previous to 

 1931 supplied little information on organisms living farther out in the 

 sea than the low-water mark, unless these organisms were exploited for 

 commercial purposes. In the case of the exceptions, e.g., some of the 

 Albatross expeditions, when dredging was done, it was done in deeper 

 water, or when bottom samples were taken, they were also from the deep. 

 The most fertile area in the ocean, lying between the low-tide mark and 

 the 100-fathom line, was almost untouched. It was into this rich faunal 

 and floral area that the Velero III entered in 1931, and it is in this area 

 that most of the biological investigation has been continued for these ten 

 years, with special emphasis on the Gulf of California and the Galapagos. 



Since this exploration was started, some other expeditions have spent 

 some time in the Eastern Pacific doing very serviceable work, but the 

 region is so extensive that there is little likelihood of overlapping, or 

 danger of overcrowding for generations to come. As yet, there has not 

 been time to appraise in detail the results of these recent expeditions; 

 hence they will not be further mentioned in this report. They will all 

 report for themselves in the near future. 



The observations made during many of these earlier expeditions have 

 little bearing on the work of the Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions, and 

 no attempt has been made to make a complete list of them. A reference to 

 a few of the more important, selected without prejudice, of these expedi- 

 tions that have paid particular attention to the Galapagos, and/or the 

 Gulf of California, will serve to give some idea of the nature of the 

 explorations. The remainder of the Eastern Tropical Pacific has been 

 almost entirely neglected by these, comparatively speaking, casual ex- 

 plorations. 



