24 
Fig. 2, Third lava flow reaching sea level on June 3. 
Concerning sea conditions around the lava 
flow on June 2, Finch and Macdonald (1950: 
6) state: 
By 5:00 p. M. a line of steaming water, marking 
the sub-sea course of the flow, extended to sea for 
about half a mile from the point where the . . . flow 
entered the ocean. Close to the shore and directly 
over the submerged flow, the water was boiling, 
and a semicircular area of hot turbulent water ex- 
tended for a mile offshore. Many fish were killed 
and were seen drifting or were washed up on shore 
during succeeding days. The prevailing currents 
drifted the area of hot water southward. 
On the morning of June 3 there was a 
"windrow” of dead fishes, 2 to 6 feet wide 
and extending as far as the eye could see, 
about 2 miles offshore from the flow. Inside 
this windrow, which marked a border be- 
tween murky green and deep blue oceanic 
water, were other smaller, linearly arranged 
aggregations of dead fishes. At approximately 
half a mile from the point of entry of the lava, 
the water-cooled engine of the boat from 
which these observations were made became 
overheated. 
By the afternoon of June 3 the windrows 
of fishes had broken up. 
On June 6 the water in a roughly semi- 
circular area several miles in radius around 
the point of entry of the lava was discolored 
and of dirty appearance. The relatively rare 
and scattered fish carcasses were found mostly 
toward the periphery of the disturbed area. 
Water a quarter of a mile from the flow was 
hardly warm, though a slick of upwelled hot 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. VIII, January, 1954 
water was still being formed closer in. The 
molten lava was still pouring into the sea 
continuously (Fig. 3), but in surges of greatly 
varying volume. The average width of the 
'Column entering the water at this time was 
perhaps about 30 feet. 
On June 7 lava was entering the sea in 
greatly decreased volume and more or less 
intermittently, ceasing completely on this day 
or the next. 
Four collections were made of the fishes 
brought to the surface of the sea by the 1950 
lava flows. On the morning of June 2 Brock 
flew over the area where the lava was entering 
the water and made arrangements for collect- 
ing. In the afternoon of the same day Eugene 
Burke and Homer Hayes of the Territorial 
Division of Fish and Game took a small 
number of fishes. On June 3 the U. S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service vessel "Henry O’Malley,” 
with Moore as scientist in charge, sent into 
the area a small boat from which collections 
were made in both the morning and afternoon. 
On the morning of June 6 Yamaguchi col- 
lected from a skiff. That afternoon Gosline, 
Homer Hayes, and Ed Keen took specimens 
from a sampan owned by Keen. On June 7 
Hayes and Gosline returned to the area but 
found almost nothing. 
Circumstantial evidence is rather strong 
that most of the fishes taken were brought 
to the surface during the early middle stages 
of the third flow. We know that the first stages 
of all three flows killed mostly inshore fishes, 
and we saw few of these. On the other hand, 
by June 6 relatively few fishes were coming 
to the surface, though live specimens were 
still occasionally seen. Furthermore, speci- 
mens in the June 6 collections often showed 
signs of more or less advanced decomposition. 
Some of the fishes in these collections, par- 
ticularly those taken on the first two dates, 
are in excellent condition. Others are not. 
Some of the latter were parboiled, some were 
partially decomposed, and some were both. 
The myctophids collected on June 6 gave the 
impression that if one looked at them in- 
