Lady with a Spear

Published in 1953, this is primarily an autobiography by Eugenie Clark, American ichthyologist (fish scientist if you were wondering), covering her early years and travels as a researcher. I have read a few non-fiction books on fish, and for some reason find them quite compelling, so this had some potential for me.

The book briefly covers off some of her early life, and her ever present interest in fish, but it is after University when she is given a position as a research assistant at the Scripps Institute at La Jolla (California), that the story gets interesting. After being initially awarded a position on an research expedition to the Philippines, and then left in limbo (young single woman with all those men) under an excuse about a visa Clark got to spend some time in Hawaii (where she was stranded awaiting the visa). She was them invited to become a research assistant at the American Museum of Natural History, in her field, to assist in some specific research projects. Here Clark explains her research and the methods she uses to prove the hypothesis. She writes well for those with little knowledge in this field, making it simple and clear what she is doing and achieving.

And then she explains some of her research she travelled for. She spent time in Bimimi (the Bahamas) researching filefish, and into the eyesight and connective memory of fish, and then upon returning to the States, hears of a research programme proposed for Micronesia. Clark submitted a proposal and was one of a few chosen, and despite having just been awarded a fellowship (which she managed to defer for a year) was off within two weeks.

A brief stop in Hawaii started her journey to Micronesia, with stops of a few days at Johnson Island (US Minor Outlying Islands), then Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall islands, followed by Guam, then Saipan in the Mariana Islands and finally to Koror in the Palau Islands of Micronesia.

In each place she stops for days longer, spending time with the local fishermen, collecting samples for cataloguing and sending back to the museums and research institutes in the states. Primarily this was done by taking by-product catch from the fishermen's fish traps, or adding rotenone, a derris based plant product which stuns or kills the fish in the trapped water. Once the tide comes in the water is diluted and the effect removed (except for the dead fish i guess - but Clark was taking them all with her as samples).

And so to her time in Micronesia. Here she spent time with an amazing spear fisherman, and where really developed her spear fishing skills, spearing hundreds of specimens for cataloguing and display back in the States. She spent a lot of her time concentrating on Plectognaths (puffer fish, porcupine fish, tridon, trigger fish, box fish and file fish) on which her research was based, and also on poisonous fish (either spikes which poison when touched, or fish poisonous to eat) which was usually based on the local advice to not eat. The poisonous fish were all sent to a research facility in the States for analysis.

In Micronesia, Clark visited many of the other islands, spending time in fairly remote places with basic facilities. It was testament to her fortitude to carry out her work and do more than live, but really thrive in these conditions. Clark shares many stories and explains details about her methods, the fish she encounters, and the fishermen and officials who assist her.

From Micronesia, Clark takes us to Eqypt, where she spends a year in the Red Sea, doing comparative research to the Micronesian work - equally as interesting, and well told.

A well presented, well written and interesting book, easy to read, but with plenty of take away knowledge.
Clark is impressive in her pioneering of women in science, and after publication of this book she goes on to have a much heavier interesting sharks, and research into them, for which she was well known up to her death in 2015.

5 stars.