In April of 2007 the Nautilus Explorer took a group of dive explorers, scientists and underwater imagers from Mexico, the United States and Canada to the remote and uninhabited Clipperton Island located some 500 nautical miles off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico. Clipperton has a long and fascinating history, including two Scripps expeditions with research diving pioneer Conrad Limbaugh in the 1950s. In 1956, Connie Limbaugh described the sharks of Clipperton Island as so numerous and aggressive that researchers had to cut short their diving operation. Limbaugh returned in 1958 with a number of other scientists as part of the Scripps Doldrums Expedition, this time bringing with him shark cages in which to safely dive and study the sharks.
In part one of this two-part podcast, Mary Lynn Price discusses some of the history of Conrad Limbaugh's visits to Clipperton Island in the 1950s and what the 2007 Nautilus Explorer expedition discovered diving the reefs of Clipperton for five days. Historic images and footage from the Limbaugh Collection at Scripps Archives, as well as rare 1958 news footage from San Diego's KFMB TV Channel 8, depict the Limbaugh expeditions in the 50s. Current underwater video and images by Mary Lynn Price, dive explorer Roberto Chavez Arce and nudibranch scientist Alicia Hermosillo show what the marine life of Clipperton Island is like today.
What the divers find is abundant healthy coral, numerous small and medium-size fishes, a variety of colorful nudibranchs, and the beautiful endemic Clipperton Angelfish (Holacanthus limbaughi, named in honor of Conrad Limbaugh). However, the divers are struck by the sad reality of very few sharks--and old long-line from commercial long-line fishing criss-crossing the otherwise pristine reefs nearly everywhere they dived. Without conservation protection and enforcement, it is likely that the sharks of Clipperton Island will not have much of a future.
For more information on the Nautilus Explorer, and to read the Clipperton entries in the Captain's Log, please visit www.NautilusExplorer.com.
Part two of this two part podcast will include interviews with scientists, dive explorers and longtime fishermen about the issues facing the sharks of Clipperton Island, and what might be done to better protect them.
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