no. 1 fraser : scientific work, velero iii, eastern pacific 47 



Acknowledgments 



Exploration which is international in scope cannot be accomplished 

 without the closest cooperation of the various agencies of the countries 

 visited. This is particularly true in the field of marine biology and orni- 

 thology, where valuable commercial species are protected by national and 

 sometimes by international law. In all cases the work of the Velero III 

 was welcomed by the Latin-American governments, who saw in it an 

 opportunity to gain important information upon their flora and fauna 

 (and to aid international scientific research). The government of 

 Mexico, through its Department of Fish and Game, not only generously 

 issued permits for exploration at Guadalupe Island and in the Gulf of 

 California but made available the services of a staff member, well ac- 

 quainted with local conditions, to accompany these cruises. The Ecua- 

 dorian government, through its Minister of Foreign Relations, not only 

 issued the desired permits allowing the Velero III to visit the Galapagos 

 Islands but generously waived the customary fees levied against both pri- 

 vate and commercial vessels visiting Ecuadorian waters. The Peruvian 

 Campania Administradora del Guano, which controls valuable guano 

 concessions, twice issued permits for the Velero III to conduct explora- 

 tion in the vicinity of the Bird Islands of Peru. To these governments 

 and their agencies in particular, as well as to those of other countries at 

 which Allan Hancock Expeditions stopped for less extensive operations, 

 acknowledgment is gratefully tendered. 



Before the permits mentioned above could be issued, certain diplo- 

 matic representations had to be made. On cruises in which the U.S. Na- 

 tional Museum participated, these were made through the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of State; on other cruises, through the ofHce of the Director-General 

 of the Pan American Union. The personal interest taken by United 

 States Minister Dawson in Ecuador and by Ambassador Lawrence Stein- 

 hardt in Peru, and the services rendered by the United States consulates 

 at Guayaquil and Callao greatly facilitated the work of the expeditions in 

 South America. The same is true of representatives of the State Depart- 

 ment at Central American ports of call of the Velero III. 



The Department of Commerce issues, through the U.S. Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey, the navigational charts used in plotting Velero III sta- 

 tion locations, and the U. S. Coast Pilot, excerpts from which are freely 

 quoted in the geographical section of this account. The U.S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries (now the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the 



