LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Aloha, and welcome to the March issue of Seawords!

This month, we celebrate the life and contributions of Rick Rogers, a pilot, archivist, and friend of the MOP program who passed away on February 22, 2020. Rogers worked as a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines from 1987 to 2010, when he retired and began working for the airline as a Consultant Archivist. This job allowed him to combine his creativity with his passion for history. Rogers was described as ‘a Renaissance man’ by his coworkers, who lauded his curiosity and inventive mind.

In addition, Rogers was active in MOP; he never missed a Maritime Symposium, and occasionally assisted in the field school for the Maritime Archaeology Surveying Techniques program. Ann Botticelli, who leads an organization with which Rogers worked frequently, stated that “He curated our archives with care and loved to share what he knew. He was a passionate protector of history, an aviation enthusiast, an author, and a marine archeologist.” He will be dearly missed.

Zada Boyce-Quentin, Seawords Editor and Alyssa Mincer, Associate Editor

About the Photography -Cover: Pacific golden plover. Photo by: Big Dipper 2, Flickr. -Table of Contents: Mollymawk albatross. Photo by: Victoria Hoete-Dodd, Flickr. -Page 16: Albatross by USFWS Pacific RegionFlickr, Booby by Doug Greenberg- Flickr, Petrel by USFWS Pacific Region- Flickr, Frigatebird by Bill Bacon- Flickr, Noddy by Jean-Paul Longchamp- Flickr, Tern by patrickkavanaghFlickr, Shearwater by duncan- Flickr, Tropicbird by Brandon Trentler- Flickr. -Back cover: Tern. By: Mark Gunn, Flickr.

-Disclaimer: any photo taken from flickr.com is used under the Creative Commons License and is credited appropriately with links to the user’s Flickr account.

Volume XXXV, Number 2, March 2020 Editor: Zada Boyce-Quentin Assistant Editor: Alyssa Mincer Dr. Cynthia Hunter (éminence grise) Jeffrey Kuwabara (éminence grise) Seawords- Marine Option Program University of Hawai‘i, College of Natural Sciences 2450 Campus Road, Dean Hall 105A Honolulu, HI 96822-2219 Telephone: (808) 956-8433 Email: <seawords@hawaii.edu> Website: <http://www.hawaii.edu/mop> Seawords is the monthly newsletter of the Marine Op tion Program at the University of Hawai‘i. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Marine Option Program or of the University of Hawai‘i. Suggestions and submissions are welcome. Submissions may include articles, photography, art work, or anything that may be of interest to the marine community in Hawai‘i and around the world. All photos are taken by MOP unless otherwise credited.

Articles 2: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 4: SUNFISH & SEABIRDS: AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP 5: SOUND SAVES SEAGULLS 6: SPECIES OF THE MONTH: PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER 8: SUSAN SCOTT’S KōLEA COUNT 10: FLUORESCENT FLYERS 11: HANAUMA TALKS 12: THE ALBATROSS 16: HAWAIIAN SEABIRDS 18: LUNDY CALLING 19: PREHISTORIC PENGUINS 20: SQUID & SCIENCE COMMUNICATION : AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. SARAH MCANULTY 22: THE MIGRATORY BIRDS TREATY ACT 24: CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sunfish and Seabirds: An Unlikely Friendship

By: Rayna McClintock, UHM MOP Student

Sunfish, also known as Mola mola, have often inspired awe in anyone fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of them. With their large size and strange fin positioning, these slow-moving gentle giants seem like something out of a myth instead of a real ocean dwelling creature. Adding to their peculiarity is a relationship with another seafaring animal that was observed in the waters of the North Pacific. A Japanese research vessel spotted a large school of these sunfish swimming close to the surface, above them a flock of albatrosses. After the team got a closer look, it appeared that the sunfish were harboring a common parasite known as Pennella on their skin. This parasite is a copepod that digs into the tissue of its host and is commonly found on several whale species. The sunfish were seen following the albatrosses as the birds swooped down to the water, removing the parasite, and eating it. This symbiotic relationship shows us how little we know about the behaviors of these mysterious fish. Mola mola. By: Ilse Reijs & Jan-Noud Hutten, Wikimedia. 4| Seawords

This symbiotic relationship is not an uncommon one. There are many cases on land of birds hanging around larger animals to clean parasites from their skin and getting a free meal. However, in the ocean it is more likely small reef fish to take on the job of removing parasites so the question remains, how did the sunfish develop the habit of working with albatrosses?

Albatross over the water. By: Ade Russell, Flickr.