Compared to the other islands there is little known about Hood. There are lots of sea lions on the beaches and in the coves around the rocks. You may get almost close enough to touch them. Isabel Cooper, who is not afraid of anything, crept near enough to pat one old bull on the flipper. When she [[66]]laughed aloud he gave a curious grunt and slid into the water.
We noticed that several of the sea lions had eye disease, many of the little pups being entirely blind, and the older ones having perhaps one eye dimmed with a white film. So Bill Merriam shot one of them, brought it to the boat, and the doctor took the eyes out to study the sickness.
I went ashore with the crew one day, and we got a huge log which was covered with barnacles. We pushed it back into the water again and played with it, diving and climbing over it and fooling with it as we would a raft at home. The water is beautifully clear, the white sand and the black rocks showing up perfectly clearly for many feet deep. Of course we were all terribly scratched with rough housing, but it was good fun and fine exercise.
I lifted up some of the black rocks along the beach at low tide and found a small octopus. [[67]]Someone took him out of the jar I had put him into to look at him and left him in the sun, so he died. But he was valuable as a specimen on the ship and has been put with the other jars aboard.
The beaches here at Hood have very soft white sand, unlike that at Tower which is crumbled up coral and sharp and cuts the feet.
Also there are many bays or coves like fiords along the shore. Don Dickerman, one of the best collectors in the outfit, was getting beautiful starfish, some like worms, some brittle and a lovely pinkish coral color, and some small red and green fish while I rowed the boat around so it wouldn’t smash on the rocks. When he was doing this I saw seven sharks, one huge turtle and one small one.
Another day John Tee Van took me with him when he went ashore to trap birds. He uses a long pole with a small twig on the end. This is covered with very sticky paste. He [[68]]whistles the song of the bird, and when it comes to see who it is, John hits him on the back a light tap which makes him stick to the twig. Then John takes him off, wipes off the paste, puts him in a box, and takes him to the ship.
Dwight Franklin harpooned a big ray along the shore of the beach, and lost the harpoon. Afterwards we saw the handle going along the surface. He got four other rays, but never caught the one that had gone off with the harpoon handle. We saw spotted rays, brown ones, red ones and black ones.
At night when we are at anchor, there are two great arc lights lowered over the ship’s side, one over the boom and one above the gangway. This bright light attracts the fish in great numbers. At Hood the flying fish were very plentiful, and a large size—ten or twelve inches long, with lovely pinkish purple wings or fins. One night I harpooned enough for breakfast for the crowd. [[69]]
The fish seem to get quite crazy with the light and they dart around cracking themselves against the boats and the shipside. To add to the excitement, sea lions come skimming by and snatch at the wounded ones gulping them down and stuffing themselves on more. One big sea lion came close enough to the gangway for me to reach over and touch him.