ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1693 



pool. The big sea lion which has lived eleven 

 years in the building is dodging about keeping 

 out of their way. And the sale of Bonds is in 

 progress. 



ITEMS OF INTEREST. 

 By C. H. Townsend. 



The American Fisheries Society. — The Amer- 

 ican Fisheries Society, which held its forty- 

 eighth annual meeting in New York this year, 

 was given a reception at the Aquarium on the 

 evening of September tenth. About 125 persons 

 were present and the entertainment took the 

 form of a smoker, with motion pictures and re- 

 freshments. The motion picture films were sup- 

 plied by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries and by 

 Prizma, Inc., of New York. The Prizma films 

 were natural color pictures of unusually fine 

 quality. All were illustrative of the fishery in- 

 dustries and fish culture. 



During the week the meetings of the Society 

 at the Waldorf-Astoria were well attended. 

 Much time was given to discussion of the sub- 

 ject of water pollution by manufacturing wastes 

 and the sewage of towns. The pollution of our 

 streams and lakes is on the increase and now 

 constitutes the greatest danger to our fishery re- 

 sources. 



A Photograph of the Sandfish. — Mr. Sanborn 

 has succeeded, after several futile attempts, in 

 making an admirable photograph of the coy and 

 elusive sandfish [Malacanihus plumieri), which 

 has been living in the Aquarium for more than 

 a vear. It is the habit of this fish to make 

 tunnel-shaped lairs in the eel grass in which it 

 hides. In order to provide a hiding place 

 which would still permit of its being observed, 

 a piece of tile piping was placed in its tank, but 

 the mere setting up of the camera sent it under 

 cover and a satisfactory photograph has not 

 been made until recently. 



This is a common food fish in Florida, Ber- 

 muda and the West Indies, reaching a length of 

 three feet and a weight of twelve pounds. What 

 little is known of its habits was published in 

 the Bulletin for March, 1915. 



Fish Trophies for the Aquarium. — The Rac- 

 quet and Tennis Club has presented to the Aqua- 

 rium several large mounted game fishes killed at 

 various times by members of the Club. The 

 largest is a 500-pound tuna from Nova Scotia, 

 taken by Mr. Robert W. Chanler. Another tuna 

 weighing 152 pounds was taken by Mr. M. G. 

 Foster. There are two tarpons, one weighing 

 I Si! pounds, killed by Mr. H. M. Inman, and a 

 smaller one by Mr. S. I.. Husted. Jr. There is 

 an 8-foot sail-fish, taken by Mr. W. S. Brown. 



and a California yellow-tail, sent without date. 

 All of these fishes were taken with rod and reel. 

 The Zoological Society hereby extends to The 

 Racquet and Tennis Club its grateful thanks for 

 this gift to the Aquarium. 



Fur Seal Herd in 1918. — The Bureau of Fish- 

 eries at Washington has announced the result of 

 the census of the Alaska fur seal herd for the 

 season of 1918. The total number of seals of 

 all ages is given as 19(3,600. The census is of 

 date of August 10. the close of the breeding sea- 

 son. The figures given do not include the 33,881 

 surplus male seals taken during the season, 

 which would bring the total size of the herd in 

 the summer of 1918 to 530,181, an increase of 

 67,107 seals since the census of 1917. 



Ocean sealing, which involved the killing of 

 many more females than males, and which had 

 been going on for many years, was discontinued 

 by international agreement in 1911. At that 

 time the herd had become reduced to 123,600 

 seals. At present there are more than five times 

 that number. Since the cessation of ocean seal- 

 ing there have been no losses of breeding fe- 

 males, witli the accompanying losses of nursing 

 young. Whatever sealing may be done on the 

 Pribilof Islands from year to year, will be lim- 

 ited to the surplus males of this highly polyga- 

 mous species, with no injury to the breeding 

 stock. We may confidentially expect a pro- 

 gressive increase in this immensely valuable 

 herd as time passes. 



Reception to the Zoological Society. — The an- 

 nual reception to members of the Zoological So- 

 ciety at the Aquarium on May 6 was attended 

 by over three hundred persons. The building 

 was specially illuminated and was decorated 

 witli plants. Music and refreshments were fur- 

 nished. A shipment of tropical fishes, received 

 a few days earlier, added many interesting ex- 

 hibits. 



A High Tide. — The highest tide in the base- 

 ment fireroom of the Aquarium which has yet 

 been recorded, occurred on April 1 1 , when the 

 water rose thirty-six inches above the floor, or 

 within two inches of the furnace grate bars. 

 After many years of protest, the work of the 

 Aquarium is still being done under the old han- 

 dicap. The sea has always flooded the fireroom 

 monthly during the new-moon tides. 



Collecting Specimens. — The work of collect- 

 ing fishes and other marine exhibits for the 

 Aquarium has gradually become more difficult 

 owing to war conditions. Shipments by sea have 

 become more expensive, shipments by rail are 

 hampered by railway restrictions, and the move- 

 ments of small boats about the lower bay are 



