Summer 2023 The Explorers Journal

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n THE E XPLORERS JOURNAL

contents SUMMER 2023

features SURVIVING THE PYROCENE

INTO SISTEMA HUAUTL A

wildlife adaptation in an age of raging fires

one of the world’s richest cave systems in terms of biodiversity continues to yield its secrets

GEORGE KOUROUNIS in conversation with GAVIN JONES

by C. WILLIAM “BILL” STEELE

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40

INTO THE L AND OF DR ACUL A

an exotic fish plying the seasonal wetlands of Florida

filling in a biodiversity gap in the Ecuadorian Andes

text and images by RYAN CRUTCHFIELD

text and images by CALLIE BROADDUS

58

C H A S I N G T H E C H A N C H I TA

32

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Joseph Dituri on his record-breaking 100 days under the sea interview by MICHAEL J. MANYAK 68

regulars PRESIDENT’S LE T TER

EDITOR’S NOTE

E XPLOR ATION NE WS

4

6

10

HARVESTING THE WILD

E X TREME MEDICINE

78

80

RE VIE WS

WHAT WERE THE Y THINKING?

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BRAD WUEST RAPPELS DOWN INTO THE ENTRANCE PIT OF NITA HE (“DEEP CAVE” IN MAZATECO), A 595-METER-DEEP CAVERN THAT BILL STEELE AND HIS TEAM EXPECT TO CONNECT TO SISTEMA HUAUTLA DURING THEIR 2024 FIELD SEASON. PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS HIGGINS.

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president’s letter

in remembrance RICHARD GARRIOTT DE CAYEUX President

Recent events have caused us to ask: what distinguishes exploration from adventure? As the president of The Explorers Club, I encounter this question daily, and while the line may sometimes blur, there is a key distinction. Consider the act of skydiving. There is little question that skydiving alone embodies pure adventure. However, when we examine Explorers Club Medalist Joe Kittinger’s incredible leap from the edge of space—successfully parachuting to Earth from more than 30 kilometers above its surface, thereby establishing safety protocols for our burgeoning space program—we witness true exploration. While adventure offers thrills, true exploration always incorporates a component aimed at advancing scientific understanding. Explorers Club members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, both lost in the Titan, epitomized such individuals who incessantly pushed boundaries. Critics may label their recent Titanic expedition as “adventure” or “extreme tourism,” however I argue that it was their spirit of exploration, more than adventure alone, that propelled them to seek, experience, and learn.

I came to know Hamish during our respective dives to the deepest part of the ocean, using a purpose-built vehicle—Victor Vescovo’s DSV Limiting Factor, designed to withstand the immense pressure at 11,000 meters beneath the sea, almost three times the depth of the Titanic wrecksite. Our expedition, in early March of  2021, was adventurous, but much more than mere tourism; we conducted and supported meaningful research at the ocean’s deepest point, providing scientists with unprecedented opportunities. Similarly, my privately funded expedition to the International Space Station, accomplished through a Soyuz TMA-13 rocket, contributed significantly to scientific progress. We deeply mourn the loss of Hamish and P.H. Some may suggest that they departed as they would have desired, becoming an integral part of the Titanic’s story. However, I like to believe that they each had so much more to offer and, at the very least, they would have continued pushing the boundaries of exploration. We salute them and we will continue to explore. Ad Astra!

PRESIDENT RICHARD GARRIOTT DE CAYEUX IN A SELFIE TAKEN DURING HIS DIVE TO CHALLENGER DEEP ON MARCH 1, 2021.

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editor’s note

passages ANGELA M.H. SCHUSTER Editor-in-Chief

We wrap this edition on the heels of this year’s Global Exploration Summit (GLEX), held on the Azorean island of Terceira, a volcanic wonder in the midst of the Atlantic. The gathering brought together explorers from around the globe who generously shared their passion for science as they work to unravel the wonders of our world. You will be reading about many of their excellent projects in upcoming editions of The Explorers Journal. The intellectual feeding frenzy that continued well after the formal presentations had concluded was tempered only by the tragic loss of two of our own on June  18, when their Titan submersible imploded at great ocean depth on its descent to the wreck of the Titanic. Paul-Henri Nargeolet aka “Mr. Titanic,” was a leading expert on the ill-fated oceanliner, which sank after hitting an iceberg off Newfoundland on its maiden voyage in the spring of 1912, while Hamish Harding, who had just left our company at GLEX, had notched much on his bucket list all the while supporting important projects in wildlife conservation. They are with the ages now. We will miss their insatiable curiosity and spirit of adventure.

This edition gives new meaning to “hot off the presses” as we catch up with two leading “pyromaniacs”—storm chaser and Angry Planet host George Kourounis, and U.S. Forest Service ecologist Gavin Jones, whose landmark paper on wildlife survival in the age of the “Pyrocene,” an era of raging wildfires, was just published. Their spirited conversation could not be more timely, given that dense smoke has cloaked so much of North  America this summer—the result of Canadian wildfires. Perhaps more disturbing: the burn season has just gotten started. Contributing editor Michael Manyak also checks in with Joe Dituri, who, on June  9, emerged from the waters off Key Largo, having lived in a submerged habitat for record-setting 100 days—during which he carried out a host of experiments. Meanwhile, Bill Steele and his team continue to push further and deeper into Sistema Huautla in the Mexican state of in Oaxaca—adding to what we know about cave formation, cave-dwelling life, and millennia-old rituals, the human imagination having been inspired by these magnificent and otherworldly recesses in the surface of the Earth since the dawn of time.

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EXPLORATION NEWS EDITED BY JEFF BLUMENFELD

A TIME OF LOSS AND REFLECTION E XPLOR ATION AND THE RISK OF E XPERIMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

On June 18, Explorers Club members Hamish Harding, 58, and French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, perished aboard the Titan submersible, along with three others—OceanGate cofounder and CEO Stockton Rush, 61; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48; and his son, Suleman, 19— when their craft imploded on descent to the fabled wreck

of the ill-fated ocean liner, which sank in April of 1912. The Titan disaster was the biggest exploration story in decades, rivaling only the highly publicized 1996 Everest disaster, when eight perished on the mountain, and the loss of NASA’s space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, in 1986 and 2003 respectively. The story of Titan’s loss captivated

the world’s attention, perhaps because the tragedy represented a collection of humankind’s greatest fears—drowning, claustrophobia, darkness, cold, a ticking time bomb, etc.—all wrapped up in a carbon-fiber cocoon. And, appropriately, that coverage has spawned unprecedented scrutiny of the use of extreme tourism to fund exploration.

OCEANGATE'S TITAN SUBMERSIBLE, WHICH IMPLODED ON ITS DESCENT TO THE WRECK OF THE RMS TITANIC ON JUNE 18, KILLING ALL FIVE ON BOARD. ALAMY STOCK PHOTO.

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Many may ask what would have led five people to seal themselves into a 6.7-meter experimental submersible bolted shut from the outside? One could argue that the same might be asked of a desire to be first to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, fly solo across the Atlantic, summit Everest, or set foot on the Moon—all famous firsts accomplished by members of The Explorers Club. As Explorers Club past president Richard Wiese so cogently put it: “It is vital to remember that explorers are not fueled by a desire for death but rather by a profound zest for life.” And that we know the Titan crew had in spades. One lesser-known fact about the submersible’s fatal fourteenth mission was its intended role in an ongoing study of the complex marine life around the Titanic wreck. Titan’s crew planned to collect water samples in hopes of finding genetic material left behind by organisms feeding off the remains of the ship, which lie in 3,800  meters of water 370  nautical miles off the south coast of Newfoundland. It’s thought that such genetic material may contain powerful compounds with medicinal properties. As famed marine scientist Sylvia  Earle told her fellow members of The Explorers Club during World Oceans

Week in early June, “The deeper we go, the less we know, and the more discoveries we’re finding.” While the loss of Titan marked a sad chapter in exploration, loved ones can take comfort in knowing it’s unlikely these intrepid travelers suffered, given the sheer might of the implosion at such ocean depths. In the words of former Navy nuclear attack submarine commander and past president of The Explorers Club Fred  McLaren, “They would have been dead before they knew it.” On July 6, OceanGate announced it had suspended operations. The wreckage of Titan, which was found some 500 meters away from Titanic and is thought to contain human remains, has since been recovered for analysis.

EVEREST ROUNDUP The Everest spring season, during which an estimated 600 people reached the summit—some 350 Sherpas and 250 clients, according to Alan Arnette—was also the deadliest season

in the history of Everest climbing, with 17 perishing on the mountain. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, director of Nepal’s tourism department, cites climate change as the main cause, the changing weather making the mountain more dangerous. Here are a few of the records set this season, which marks the seventieth anniversary of the first successful summit by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953: Kami Rita Sherpa set a new Everest summit record at 28 times climbed, exceeding Pasang Dawa Sherpa at 27. The two guides summited Everest twice this season, swapping the record lead several times. British guide, Kenton Cool, set a non-Sherpa summit record at 17. And, as Arnette notes, it was also an impressive season for climbers with disabilities. Rafa Jaime became the first Mexican blind climber to summit Everest, while American Lonnie Bedwell, a blinded Navy veteran, also summited. These followed the double summit of Everest and Lhotse by deaf climbers Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger. Meanwhile, British Gurkha soldier Hari Budha Magar, who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan, became the world’s first double above-the-knee amputee to reach the top of Everest.

THE NORTH FACE OF EVEREST. PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCA GALUZZI, COURTESY WIKICOMMONS.

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SURVIVING PYROCENE THE

wildlife adaptation in an age of raging fires GEORGE KOUROUNIS in conversation GAVIN JONES

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A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2009, GEORGE KOUROUNIS IS AN AWARD-WINNING EXPLORER, STORM CHASER, AND TELEVISION PRESENTER WHO HAS SPENT 25 YEARS DOCUMENTING NATURE’S FURY AROUND THE GLOBE—TORNADOES, HURRICANES, VOLCANOES, FLOODS, WILDFIRES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. GAVIN JONES IS A RESEARCH ECOLOGIST WITH ROCK Y MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION—PART OF THE USDA FIRE SERVICE’S WILDLIFE AND TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS PROGRAM—AND IS THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OF THE JONES APPLIED QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY LAB. HE HAS FOCUSED ON HOW TO CONSERVE SPECIES AND BIODIVERSITY IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD, AS WELL AS WILDLIFE RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCES, MOST NOTABLY ADAPTATION IN THE “PYROCENE”—A NEW AGE OF RAGING FOREST FIRES AROUND THE GLOBE.

GK: What is frightening is that now, in the summer of 2023, we’re only part way through the year. In Canada, where I am based, we’ve already burned more than four times the national average, and there’s still plenty of fire season left. The fires are ramping up. They haven’t plateaued. GJ: And, just like with climate change, people are simply calling it the new normal. Well, it’s not normal because it’s not stable. We are experiencing a dynamic, chaotic change.

For those of us living in the United States, forest fires have dominated headlines, as billowing smoke from Canadian wildfires has cloaked, and choked, much of the Eastern Seaboard in recent months. For more on what is happening to our planet, The Explorers Journal reached out to two luminaries in the study of nature’s pyrotechnics—storm chaser George Kourounis and U.S. Forest Service ecologist Gavin Jones, whose landmark study on wildlife adaptation in the age of the Pyrocene was published in early July.

GK: Your specialty is in the “dance,” if you will, between fire and evolution, and specifically how one affects the other. What are some specific ways in which fire can drive evolutionary processes and over what time frame? GJ: My specialty is the effects of wildfire on wildlife. And, until recently, I hadn’t thought about evolution as a factor that is very much in play. As a conservation biologist and wildlife ecologist, I’ve spent most of my career monitoring populations of animals before and after wildfires. Did they go up?

GEORGE KOUROUNIS: Until I read your latest paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, I had not yet encountered the term “Pyrocene,” which is a bit surprising given how often I have ventured into forest fires during my career. Define the idea of the Pyrocene, its significance, and, if you will, how it differs from other geological periods. GAVIN JONES: Actually, it was Stephen Pyne, the famous fire historian, who actually coined the term Pyrocene—our current epoch of time in which we’re seeing far greater fire activity than we have in the past. The key driver of it is human activity, which is causing larger, more severe, more frequent catastrophic fire events, and, in particular, more frequent intersections of those fires with human communities.

OPENING SPREAD: FLAMES CONSUME A HOME AS THE DIXIE FIRE TEARS THROUGH THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA TOWN OF GREENVILLE ON AUGUST 4, 2021. PHOTOGRAPH BY NOAH  BERGER/AP. FACING PAGE: A SEASONAL FIRE RAGES NORTH OF THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO. PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE KOUROUNIS.

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happen in a single generation, and it can even happen in a significant way for longlived vertebrates over the course of several generations. It was some recent work by French evolutionary biologist Timothée Bonnet that really got us thinking about this, as he has shown that there’s far more capacity for rapid evolutionary change in wild animals than we thought. If you consider fire as a key driver, we began looking at what that means for animal evolution in ecological time.

Did they go down? What were the direct, proximate effects of a wildfire on a species and what does that mean for conservation? But in the past couple of years, I started to think about evolution as a factor, when I began noting adaptations to fire events in various species. How is fire driving that evolution? And what are those mechanisms? Evolution tends to be defined by minor and graded changes in the genetic makeup of a population with each generation. But there is also the sexy side of evolution—natural selection—which Charles Darwin so cogently studied and wrote about. If there is environmental pressure on a species, there will be differential survival rates among members of that species, depending on individual capacities to withstand that pressure. You’re going to have a changed template for that surviving population, and its potential edge when it comes to withstanding the next disturbance even better. Environmental pressures often come as a result of natural disasters, change agents that can cause significant mortality in a shortened time frame. Fire is probably one of the most, if not the most, influential agent of change on Earth. Every ecosystem that has vegetation has a source of ignition, and thus has a fire regime—a consistent, predictable, pervasive force over millions of years, which has no doubt had an impact evolutionary change. We often think of evolution as happening over long periods of time, but it can

GK: Instead of talking about geologic time, you’re calling it ecological time. And you are starting to see small changes in just a few generations or less, because fire has such a dramatic effect on the entire ecosystem. In your paper, you talk at depth about species that are fire adapted—whether they are “fire naive” or “fire savvy.” Can you give me a few specific examples? GJ: One of the examples that we talk about in the paper is the frilled-neck lizard in Australia (Chlamydosaurus kingii). These guys have come to be well adapted to wildfires, surviving under normal historical conditions in terms of fire regime. During the early part of the fire season, in November and December, we’ll typically have fires that burn along the understory of the forest while leaving the overstory intact. The lizards just climb up in the tree canopies and wait it out, having sensed the fire coming in. Historically, they have survived quite well. The concern now is that they’re going to be quite poorly adapted to changing fire regimes. There is this invasive grass that has taken hold in their habitat, which is taller, and it burns hotter, so these typical early season fires that would come in and normally not touch the canopies are now burning into the canopies as they are becoming more flammable. The consequence is that this species, which has this great adapted response to fire, is

PREVIOUS SPREAD: A FOREST IS ABLAZE IN CANADA’S YUKON TERRITORY. PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE  KOUROUNIS. FACING PAGE: FOR SEVERAL YEARS FOLLOWING A FOREST FIRE, WESTERN FENCE LIZARDS (SCELOPORUS OCCIDENTALIS) IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL PERCH ON BLACKENED STALKS OF BURNED SHRUBS THAT CLOSELY MATCH THE COLOR OF THEIR SCALES, BUT AVOID PERCHING ON WHITE STALKS, AN ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR REINFORCING DARK MORPHOLOGY IN LIZARDS IN FIRE-PRONE SHRUBLANDS. IMAGE COURTESY GAVIN JONES.

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GK: And what animal adaptations to fire do you observe here in North America? GJ: I am glad you asked, as I have done quite a bit of work on spotted owls in California and the Pacific Northwest. While we didn’t use this example in the paper, I’m a little biased as I’ve spent 10 or 12 years studying this species from the perspective of: “What’s their ecological response to wildfire?” It has been very much from a conservation management type of perspective. How can we manage forests, and this wildfire landscape, in a way that benefits the owl, et cetera? But a few years back, we did a study that was a bit of a spur off of my dissertation where we attached GPS tags to some 25 spotted owls. And for a few years we got thousands of data points on their locations and documented their nocturnal foraging activity. Some of the questions that came up were: How do they interact with characteristics of a burned landscape? Do they use places that have burned severely? Do they use places that have burned moderately or lightly? What are their preferences? What we found is that there’s a certain patch size of a severely burned forest that is kind of optimal for the owl. We found that smaller patches of severely burned forest provide these little gaps that allow the owls to hang out along the forest edge, while

now responding inappropriately to this new kind of fire regime, and so that’s an example of what we call a maladaptation or an evolutionary trap. Their response has been correct based on evolutionary history, but is ill-suited to the new conditions. A neat example of one animal that has capitalized on fire is the black kite, also in Australia. The black kite is a raptor, a predatory bird species that has been observed picking up burning sticks from fires, carrying them into unburned places, and dropping them in order to force prey out into the open where they can catch them. It’s nuts! They’re actually engineering the landscape and the fire regime itself through the intentional spreading of fire.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: THE 2015 SAMPSON FLAT BUSHFIRES CONSUME A VAST SWATH OF VEGETATION AROUND ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE KOUROUNIS. ABOVE: FOREST SERVICE ECOLOGIST GAVIN JONES WITH ONE OF THE MEXICAN SPOTTED OWLS HE HAS BEEN STUDYING. PHOTOGRAPH BY PRESTON KERES, COURTESY USFS. FACING PAGE: HAWKS HUNT IN AND AROUND A CONTROLLED BRUSHFIRE IN MOUNT ETNA CAVES NATIONAL PARK, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND. THE BIRDS ARE A MIXTURE OF BLACK KITES (MILVUS MIGRANS) AND WHISTLING KITES (HALIASTUR SPHENURUS). PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK MARATHON, COURTESY WIKICOMMONS.

GK: Is that a learned behavior? Or is that something that is an evolutionary response? And it totally sounds like tool use. Doing their own prescribed burns! That blows my mind. GJ: It’s pretty wild that, in that environment, there’s been a selection for individuals that are willing to take those risks for the high payoff, right? If you think about it, it’s really cultural evolution. They’re transmitting behaviors through learning. It’s incredible.

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GK: I’m curious to get your opinion on the role of understanding the relationship between wildlife and fire in the context of conservation, moving forward. GJ: Our entire conservation paradigm in Western culture, in North America in particular, is what I and others refer to as “fortress conservation.” So, what does that mean? It means we find a place that we think is important, and we draw a box around it to protect it. And certainly, that’s needed in some situations, right? When wilderness areas are facing a major threat—urban development, clearcutting, and such. You protect areas for spotted owls, for example, and this is the case in the Sierra Nevada, where I spend a lot of my time working, or in the Lincoln National Forest. And, for the past century or so, fortress conservation has worked really well [laughs]; it’s very effective at stopping forces from getting into those places, including wildfire. But now we can no longer stop wildfires from getting into those places, and so this idea that we can draw a box around something and hold the line is outdated. It no longer works with the kinds of threats that we’re seeing to our landscapes that involve larger forces, like fire, like drought, like climate change, et cetera. And so, I think the idea that we need to embrace fire as a natural process in the ecosystem is certainly becoming much more of a prominent idea in conservation as we realize it’s an inevitable thing. So how do you want it? Do you want it in a way where you can have some control over it? Or do you want it in a way where you have no control over it at all? And it’s the same thing with people complaining about smoke. You’re going to get smoke, as so many of us are experiencing this summer. How would you like your smoke? Would you like your smoke in a predictable way, where you get a little bit here and there every summer? Or every

hunting into the open, where there’ll be little wood rats and mice and voles scurrying around. The burn area gave them a greater access to that food resource, while the forest edge concealed them from their prey as well as their predators, as the owls get attacked and eaten by hawks and great horned owls. We found that they like these small patches of severely burned forest up to a certain point—about 10 hectares being the maximum size they’ll use. It turns out that 10 hectares is also just about the maximum, historical patch size for high-severity fire in the region over the past 10,000 years or so, based on reconstruction of fire history carried out by dendrochronologists and paleoecologists. The numbers just matched up perfectly, indicating, potentially, that owls are showing this evolutionary response or an adaptive response. In larger burn areas, which we are seeing more of now, the owls are nowhere to be seen. GK: So, they have yet to adapt to these new fire regimes—these much bigger, hotter fires that are becoming more common and burning huge tracts of land? GJ: We know from some other studies that we’ve done that when we have those big, hot fires, owls go locally extinct. They don’t hang out in those places that are burned severely, and the ones that do survive don’t use those landscapes. So basically, it’s just like a habitat loss situation for them. That’s one of the cooler examples in western North America that I’m very familiar with because I’ve been working on it for quite a while.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: KITES, WHICH ARE KNOWN TO START BRUSHFIRES CONTINUE TO HUNT IN AND AROUND A CONTROLLED BRUSHFIRE, IN MOUNT ETNA CAVES NATIONAL PARK, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND. PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK MARATHON, COURTESY WIKICOMMONS. FACING PAGE: A CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWL. PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG SCHECHTER, COURTESY WIKICOMMONS.

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and hot. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, if it gets better at all. Fire is not going to leave the public consciousness anytime soon, so we have to learn to live with it. And from an evolutionary perspective, I would expect that this is the time when we’re going to see some of the most rapid changes in evolutionary trajectories of animals in response to fire. If you were to write your history book 1,000 years from now, you would probably look at these next 10 years and say, that was a really critical point in the evolutionary trajectory of wildlife or animals on Earth in response to this regime, this fire regime, this global phenomenon. We can use our crystal ball and forecast the conditions, but evolution is not a very predictable thing. It just follows its nose, wherever it goes. But I expect to see in animals some rapid evolution in the areas of sensory ecology—their ability to sense, to detect, and to respond to cues related to fire. Can they develop an earlier detection system than might enable them to escape? We’ve been seeing that evolution in response to fire can happen rapidly, but can it happen rapidly enough? That is the question.

10 years you get an absolute apocalyptic smoke bomb. It’s the same thing with fire. I think that today there’s very much a heightened appreciation of the role of fire in conservation. Some of the other work that I’ve been involved in over the past couple of years revolves around what’s called the “pyrodiversity-biodiversity” hypothesis. This idea that, within any given landscape, the more variety of fire characteristics that you have, the greater number of species you’re going to have there. The greater variation of a landscape that’s driven by fire as a major agent of change, the more niche space you’re going to have for different kinds of species to coexist. GK: It’s the great irony, right? You protect an area from fire for so long that it hasn’t had the chance to naturally burn out and then you get the really big fires. GJ: By trying to protect something, you destroy the thing you’re trying to protect. GK: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. GJ: It’s a good intention, yet it’s a very Western idea that man and nature are separate. The idea that we can draw boxes around nature and stay out of it is a very white Western idea, actually. Look at a lot of Indigenous cultures— they use fire all the time to benefit their resources. Ultimately, that kind of use of fire by cultures produces resilient landscapes and diverse biota. GK: Looking to the future, what do you think we’ll see in the next decade or two, both from a fire perspective and from an evolutionary perspective? GJ: I expect we will see a lot more. It’s getting warmer, and in a lot of our landscapes we have sort of a fire deficit. They’re due, it’s time to burn and they’re going to burn, big

FLAMES RAVAGE A HOME IN THE NAPA VALLEY WINE REGION OF CALIFORNIA ON OCTOBER  9, 2017. PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH EDELSON, COURTESY AFP/GETTY.

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LAND DRACULA OF

filling in a biodiversity gap in the Ecuadorian Andes text and images by CALLIE BROADDUS

RE T URN OF F L AG Nº211 SINCE IT WAS FIRST CARRIED INTO THE FIELD WITH MARINE ARCHAEOLOGIST SIMON SPOONER ON HIS 2014 EXPEDITION TO EXPLORE THE WRECK OF LE CASIMIR—AN IMPORTANT FRENCH MERCHANT SHIP THAT SANK IN 1829 OFF THE NORTH COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WITH A CARGO OF PORCELAIN, PERFUME, SILKS, AND WINE—FLAG  Nº211 HAS ACCOMPANIED A SUITE OF OTHER UNDERWATER PROJECTS. THESE INCLUDE THE SURVEY OF A MAGNIFICENT BYZANTINE SHIP THAT SANK IN THE FOURNI ARCHIPELAGO, A NAVIGATIONAL CROSSROADS THAT CONNECTED THE BLACK SEA AND THE AEGEAN TO CYPRUS, THE LEVANT, AND EGYPT.

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A WASHINGTON, DC-BASED CONSERVATIONIST AND WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER, CALLIE BROADDUS IS THE FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RESERVA: THE YOUTH LAND TRUST AND A 2021 EC50 AWARDEE. THE AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO THANK EXPEDITION COLEADER JAVIER ROBAYO, A MEMBER OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2022; FUNDACIÓN ECOMINGA’S STAFF AND PARK GUARDS; QUITO’S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIODIVERSITY (INABIO); HEINZ SCHNEIDER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BASEL BOTANICAL GARDENS; AND LUCY HOULISTON, WHO UNDERTOOK THE MOTH STUDY. THE DRACULA RESERVE ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR IS SUPPORTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF BASEL BOTANICAL GARDENS NETWORK, THE ORCHID CONSERVATION ALLIANCE, THE RAINFOREST TRUST, AND THE QUITO ORCHID SOCIETY. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: WWW.RESERVAYLT.ORG.

The Ecuadorian Tropical Andes is one of the most biologically unique places in the world. The topography of the region forced the hand of evolution, as populations of flora and fauna grew isolated along the steep Andean slopes over time. So unique is the biodiversity that, hiking through the region’s cloud forests, a skilled botanist or herpetologist might discover a new species of orchid or frog and learn that its entire range can be found in a single canyon. Paradoxically, the region is also blanketed in mining concessions held by international companies that seek to extract the treasures lying below the surface—at the expense of the ones living above it. On the western slopes of the Andes at the Colombian border, a private protected area known as the Dracula Reserve has been growing into an ecological corridor thanks to a decade-long, multi-organizational effort to purchase, explore, document, and protect the area’s remaining intact cloud forest before time runs out. The reserve, owned and managed by Fundación EcoMinga, is named for its unique population of Dracula orchids (no, not that Dracula; their name translates to “a little dragon” and refers to their elongated, pointy sepals). It is a fitting mascot for a reserve with an estimated 400 species of orchids under its protection. At about 2,200 hectares and

counting, the reserve is still a patchwork, with large gaps in the corridor. Like many of the expeditions we undertake here, this foray is focused on one of these gaps. With Explorers Club Flag Nº211 tucked in my pack, I alternate scanning the ground for solid places to step and scouring every mossy tree trunk for pops of deep maroon or yellow that might betray the presence of a micro-orchid—my favorite treasure hunt on hikes here. Expedition coleader Javier Robayo and I were on this trail just a year earlier, when we found ourselves hiking out after confronting a group of miners employed by a Canadian company about the illegal gold mining exploration that our team (Dracula Reserve Transect Expedition—Flag Nº44) had just discovered. Our emotions were still roiling from the sight of a 400-meter scar hacked through the pristine canyon on a 425-hectare plot that borders Dracula Reserve. But that is a different story.

OPENING SPREAD: A STREAM RUNS ALONG THE BORDER OF DRACULA RESERVE AND A RECENTLY SURVEYED 425-HECTARE SITE. FACING PAGE: PRISTIMANTIS APPENDICULATUS, A FROG IDENTIFIED BY THE EXPEDITION.

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species, which came within centimeters of my boots before scampering off with a highpitched squeak. In addition, we spotted puma tracks around both camps, catching the cats on our camera traps, and heard the distant calls of critically endangered brown-headed spider monkeys. The site’s 425 hectares were deemed almost entirely primary cloud forest, with older secondary forests occurring at sites of natural landslides. The quality of the forest was evident by the orchid diversity present even in this relatively dry season. We recorded seven potential new species of orchids, including one spectacularly large Pleurothallis sp. nov. whose description is currently undergoing peer review. We documented 33 bird species in the mist nets and 67 morphospecies of moths—despite five blown light bulbs requiring the use of a “Plan C” set of string lights. The herps team obtained 44 records, including 14 amphibian species and five reptiles. The team also recorded four potential new species of Pristimantis frogs and, perhaps most exciting, a new population of Osornophryne occidentalis—an Andean plump toad recently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Its presence at the site is significant in the context of Ecuador’s constitutional rights of nature clause, which prohibits activities that may cause the extinction of a species. Finding these endangered toads in the very place where we witnessed gold-mining exploration a year earlier has given us a concrete defense of its conservation value. The results of our expedition also confirm what we already understood: this plot and the Dracula Reserve corridor are worth infinitely more than anything that might be found beneath their muddy, mossy surface.

This time, we are hiking in—further in—to conduct the first scientific baseline survey of the property’s flora and fauna along its central mountain ridge. A team of international young conservationists at Reserva: The Youth Land Trust—a nonprofit I founded in 2019—had already been fundraising for four months to support the purchase of this enormous property and stand a chance at protecting it from further damage. This expedition would help provide the scientific justification for these conservation efforts by beginning to confirm which endemic, threatened, and undescribed species call this plot home. At an elevation spanning 800 to 2,400 meters above sea level (MSL), the ethereal Andean landscape is nearly always cloaked in clouds, and sunny hours are precious for solar charging and drying our persistently wet clothes. Hiking is slow; with the constant inclines, lower oxygen level, and frequently knee-deep mud sucking us mercilessly into the ground, we cover a kilometer every hour or two. I should note that when I say “we,” I am referring to the international and city-dwelling Ecuadorian team members. The local park guards and porters are able to cover the same distance in half the time, carrying twice the weight, a humbling sight for any explorer! We spent 10 days between two camps, assessing the forest quality and surveying the site’s herps—reptiles and amphibians— orchids, moths, and birds, all of which was caught on camera by a student filmmaker whose documentary is now in the postproduction phase. In addition to visual encounter, mist net, and light trap surveys, we would conduct dozens of drone flights inside and above the forest for later expert review. And, so far, the results have been encouraging. Our focused surveys were garnished with encounters with mammals, including a leaf full of Spix’s disk-winged bats; a family of howler monkeys directly over our second camp; and, perhaps most memorably, a baby western mountain coati, a near-threatened

PREVIOUS SPREAD: A PAIR OF GREEN-AND-BLACK FRUITEATERS PHOTOGRAPHED IN HAND DURING MIST NETTING. FACING PAGE: A BEETLE THAT HAS YET TO BE IDENTIFIED.

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SISTEMA HUAUTLA one of the world’s richest cave systems in terms of biodiversity continues to yield its secrets by C. WILLIAM “BILL” STEELE

RETURN OF FLAG Nº228 EXPLORERS CLUB FLAG Nº228 MADE ITS FIRST FORAY INTO THE FIELD WITH THIS EXPEDITION. AS SUCH, THE FIRST CHAPTER IN ITS HISTORY IS BEING PRESENTED HERE IN THESE PAGES.

SISTEMA HUAUTLA

MAP OF KNOWN PASSAGES

HUAUTLA BY THE NUMBERS DATE OF DISCOVERY

June 6, 1966 AGUA DE CERRO KNOW N ENTR ANCES

30 LENGTH

100.2 kilometers mapped to date DEPTH

1,560 meters, the lowest point reached to date L ARGEST CHAMBER

Anthodite Hall, discovered by Bill Stone and Tommy Shifflett in 1979 235 meters long, 135 meters wide, and more than 50 meters high 1,000 meters of rock above it to the surface WORLD R ANKING

Deepest cave in the Americas 12th deepest known cave 28th longest known cave

ANTHODITE HALL

HUAUTL A SYSTEM (mapped 1966-2016) ME XIGUILL A (mapped 2017) BLOW HARD BOULE VARD (mapped 2019) CAMINO OXIADA (mapped 2022) ELYSIUM (mapped 2022/23)

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A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 1979, C. WILLIAM “BILL” STEELE HAS BEEN ON 22 EXPLORERS CLUB FLAG-CARRYING EXPEDITIONS, OF WHICH 13 HAVE BEEN INTO SISTEMA HUAUTLA IN THE MEXICAN STATE OF OA X ACA. IN 2014, STEELE RETIRED AFTER A 34-YEAR CAREER WITH THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF TWO CAVING BOOKS, YOCHIB: THE RIVER CAVE AND HUAUTLA: THIRTY YEARS IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S DEEPEST CAVES.

that is as impressive as the dimensions of the cave itself. In this case we are talking geology, biology, paleontology, and paleoclimatology, as well as in the realms of archaeology, anthropology, and, most recently, oral history, with a new project launched to collect stories handed down through the ages by the Indigenous Mazatec of the area. Collectively, this work is answering some of our most pressing questions—enabling us to determine the age of the cave and the timeframe of its formation and providing a window on past climate, as well as abundant information about the creatures that continue to dwell in its chambers. Our work has also revealed that we are far from the first humans and other animals to enter Sistema Huautla—willingly or otherwise. Given the region’s thick uplifted limestone and the abundant evidence of a large karst subterranean drainage basin, John Fish suspected he just might find one of the deepest and longest caves in the world just a few kilometers east of the mountain town of Huautla de Jiménez in the state of Oaxaca. As our expeditions over the years have revealed, he was right, with Sistema Huautla currently ranked 28th longest in the world. Yet, it would be two decades after Fish’s first foray into the cave that the first in-depth geological study of Sistema Huautla would be undertaken—carried out by Explorers Club fellow James Smith, who penned his master’s thesis, Hydrogeology of the Sistema Huautla Karst Groundwater Basin, at Western Kentucky University. Smith simply had to wait for enough entrances to be discovered and underground streams to be reached so that his extensive subterranean

It has been 46 years since I first rappelled into the depths of Sistema Huautla, an immense network of integrated caves in southern Mexico, now known to be the deepest in the Western Hemisphere. And in that time, I have led 25 expeditions to this extraordinary recess in the Earth, during which our teams of cavers have added 99 kilometers in length and more than 950 meters in depth to its labyrinthine passageways—from an initial 1.2  kilometers in length and 612 meters in depth to more than 100 kilometers in length and 1,560 meters in depth. And, if several nearby caves, such as one dubbed “Elysium” to the north—a 10-kilometer-long system discovered in 2019 and mapped in 2022 and 2023—turn out to be connected, as we suspect it is, this will add to the total length of Sistema Huautla. With such impressive dimensions, it should come as little surprise that the sheer size of Sistema Huautla has tended to grab the headlines, eclipsing much of the hard science that has been conducted in the caves in the years since they were discovered by geologist John Fish, then a graduate student at the University of Texas, and six of his fellow weekend spelunkers in 1966. Through our current series of expeditions— carried out under the rubric PESH (Proyecto Espeleológico Sistema Huautla) since Tommy Shifflett and I jump-started a new campaign there in 2014—we are aiming to redress this editorial imbalance as the cave continues to yield a wealth of data in all areas of speleology

OPENING SPREAD: NIGHT FALLS ON OUR PLAN DE ESCOBA BASE CAMP AFTER A DAY EXPLORING THE LABYRINTHINE CHAMBERS OF SISTEMA HUAUTLA. PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM SMITH.

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dye tracing studies could be conducted. His work has since been complemented by research undertaken by one of his own graduate students at the university, Mexican caver Fernando Hernandez, whose master’s thesis Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Speleogenesis of Sistema Huautla in Oaxaca, Mexico, was accepted in 2020. Smith and Hernandez have theorized convincingly why the vast system exists, as a dendritic pattern of ancient conduits that began to form some 15 million years ago, which carry an average of 2.5 meters of annual rainfall down to the deep Río Santo Domingo canyon to the south. This implies that there is much more of the cave system to discover, map, and study into the future. As we’ve explored 100 kilometers of passages and reached gigantic chambers deep in the mountain range, we’ve wondered if we might be able to chronicle their formation, knowing that there are two main ways to determine age—carbon 14 analysis of pollen in sediments that have washed in from the surface and/or uranium isotope analysis of its stalagmites. In Sistema Huautla, however, there are few places with enough existing sediment due to the massive amount of rainwater that flows through the chambers annually—leaving us with stalagmite analysis as our best option. Just before our 2018 expedition, I reached out to Matthew Lachniet at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a top researcher in the field of paleoclimatology, asking if he might be able to help us with this. He asked that we bring out a sample stalagmite from deep in the cave system for him to analyze to determine the quality

PREVIOUS SPREAD: THE LARGEST CHAMBER YET DISCOVERED WITHIN CUEVA ELYSIUM, A 10-KILOMETER-LONG CAVE SYSTEM TO THE NORTHWEST OF SISTEMA HUAUTLA THAT MAY SOON BE CONNECTED AND INTEGRATED. FACING PAGE: DEREK BRISTOL CLIMBS TO A LEAD WITHIN ELYSIUM. BOTH IMAGES BY MATT TOMLINSON.

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found there in 1980. At that time, we reached out to Oscar Francke at Texas Tech University for help in its identification, thus beginning a collaboration that has continued for more than four decades. Since 2014, the biologist has sent a number of his graduate students to collect specimens. They have identified several previously unknown species of arachnids near the cave’s entrances, as well as a newly discovered species of tarantula, which, in a flattering gesture, they named after me, Hemirrhagus billsteelei.

of its uranium isotope content. This we did, retrieving a 40-centimeter-long stalagmite that had broken off in a drippy and still very active zone deep in the cave. From that small piece alone, Lachniet was not only able to obtain a date for the sample’s formation of around 112,000 years ago, but, based on its high uranium and low detrital thorium counts, determined that Sistima Huautla just might prove to be an ideal location to carry out speleothem paleoclimate work, if we could recover samples that were chronologically continuous as the one we had provided offered but a brief climate snapshot. During our 2022 expedition we set out to do just that, retrieving a meter-long stalagmite that had broken into four pieces from a depth of 500 meters within the cave. Its tip yielded a date of 110,000 years, its base, a date of 425,000 years. From Lachneit’s isotope analysis and the stalagmite’s rate of growth, it was clear that the climate varied considerably and changed quickly—from times of slow growth during glacial periods, when it was substantially drier than it is today, to sudden stretches of accelerated growth during the interglacial periods. While Lachneit’s work is still in its early stages, he told us that he had rarely seen tropical stalagmites that were as good in terms of isotope content and that it just might prove to be a “Rosetta Stone for Mexico’s paleoclimate.” We have been fascinated by Sistima Huautla’s cave-dwelling denizens ever since we collected the first troglobitic scorpion we

The cave has proven be among the most biodiverse in the world, particularly in troglobitic, or cave-adapted (blind, white) lifeforms. In a 2021 paper, Francke and his colleagues reported that the conditions within the cave play an important role for achieving the highest terrestrial troglobite diversity in Mexico. Sistima Huautla contains a total of 35 known species, of which 27 are possible troglobites, including numerous arachnids, millipedes, springtails, silverfish, and a single, described species of beetle. “With those numbers,” they wrote, “Sistema Huautla is one of the richest cave systems in the world.” Cave entrances are natural traps for animals. This is especially true with vertical shaft entrances, where animals can fall to their death or find themselves injured and unable to climb out—and this has clearly been the case at Huautla.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: CAVER SCOTT TRESCOTT TRAVERSES A SECTION OF THE CAVE DUBBED “NITA NASHI,” WHICH WAS FOUND TO BE CONNECTED TO SISTEMA HUAUTLA IN 2022. PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG ROEMER-BAER. FACING PAGE: TOMMY SHIFFLETT DESCENDS INTO ELYSIUM. PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA PRUITT. ABOVE: HEMIRRHAGUS BILLSTEELEI, A NEWLY DISCOVERED SPECIES OF TARANTULA NAMED IN HONOR OF THE AUTHOR. PHOTOGRAPH BY JORGE MENDOZA.

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Alarcón, who has since completed his doctorate and is now a paleontologist with INAH, made an incredible find in that bone-bearing chamber, where he spied the top portion of a large skull protruding out of the floor sediments. It turned out to be first skull to be found of the aforementioned Pleistocene ground sloth, extinct for 13,000 years and previously known only from a mandible found in El Salvador 40 years before—its scientific name Meizonyx salvadorensis. The rest of its skeleton remains in the cave, and there are plans to retrieve it on an upcoming expedition. Near many of the entrances we have found ceramic vessels, bones, masonry walls, and, in one case, a natural chamber that contained 40 human skeletons, many of which evinced deliberate molding of their skulls in infancy and filing of the teeth. Both were common practices among the ancient peoples of Mexico and Central America, particularly the local Mazatecs and the Maya to the east, for whom caves hold particular spiritual significance, being gateways to Xibalba, the underworld realm of powerful gods and ancestors. We know these earlier peoples ventured deep into the caves. How they reached such deep recesses without the aid of lights and modern climbing and rigging equipment, we do not know. Some 10 kilometers away from Sistema Huautla, cavers rappelled 100 meters down a cliff in the Peña Colorada canyon only to discover a stone altar and 2,000-year-old human footprints. Whenever we come upon something we suspect may be of archaeological interest, such as ceramics or human remains, we photograph the finds, complete with a scale

We have found the remains of at least four mountain deer (Navahoceros fricki), a Pleistocene species adapted to steep cliffs that has been extinct for more than 11,000 years. They either jumped, fell, or perhaps were driven by predators down a 12-meter entrance pitch, which lies at the back of the natural shelter entrance passage. The deer survived to negotiate an 18-meter breakdown slope and left their tracks on a mud floor en route to a 12-meter flowstone drop and a final 18-meter pitch into a terminal room measuring 21 by 49 meters. In this last chamber—which is floored by mud, “popcorn” (a type of calcite formation that looks like popcorn), and flowstone—there are perhaps a hundred tracks all of sizes commensurate with the mountain deer. Two steep mud banks contain skid marks terminating in tracks. One fully articulated and several partly articulated skeletons are present along with scattered bones of at least one other individual. They likely tumbled down into this final chamber and were not able to get out. During our 2014 expedition, Tommy and I rappelled into a 50-meter-deep entrance pit to recheck the cave for additional passages. We discovered one. Following air flow blowing into jumbled rocks at the base of the entrance pit, we reached a room with a scattering of large bones across the floor. Knowing they weren’t from a cow or a horse, we snapped photos, complete with the usual scale. Once back in Texas, I contacted Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales, a paleontologist with Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Mexico City, who identified one of the bones as scapula of a long-extinct Pleistocene ground sloth. Some of the other smaller bones appeared to be those of an animal resembling a porcupine, but of an unknown species. His curiosity piqued, he asked if one of his graduate students, Iván Alarcón, might join us in the field the following season, which he did.

FACING PAGE, FROM TOP: THE SKULLS OF A PLEISTOCENE MUSK SHEEP (EUCERATHERIUM COLLINUM) AND A PLEISTOCENE PIG. PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT TOMLINSON AND GERARDO MORRILL, RESPECTIVELY.

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and send it on to INAH. We have also had the good fortune to have Janet Fitzsimmons, a noted specialist in the field of cave archaeology, a fellow of The  Explorers Club, and, for the sake of full disclosure, my former wife and now close friend and colleague, as part of our team since 1978. Her expertise has proven invaluable. The caves of the Sierra Mazateca—Sistima Huautla included—are a salient feature of the landscape and continue to hold ritual significance for the Mazatec, who have lived around them for at least 2,000 years, based on evidence found in the caves. And, as corn has been shown to have been domesticated in the nearby Tehuacán Valley more than 10,000 years ago, the Sierra Mazateca and its cave entrances have probably been visited for many thousands of years beforehand. This has given rise to a rich oral tradition in the region. During our 2018 expedition, we welcomed a group of teachers and students into an easily accessible part of the cave. Among them was Montserrat “Montse” Peralta Méndez, a young woman who had sought out the one local teacher who was able to teach her to read and write her Indigenous Mazatec language. There are approximately 200,000 Mazatec speakers. Of them, only around 20 can read and write the language. Montse, who has since graduated from law school, has become important to our project—working as our primary diplomat and translator.

In addition to learning the art of caving, Montse has since embarked on an oral history project to record the folklore surrounding the caves. She has been noticeably moved by the reverence we have shown these recesses in the Earth, knowing the ritual significance they have for her people. Since rebooting the PESH project in 2014, we begin each season with a “puja” of sorts, in concert with a local Mazatec curandero, in which we beseech the cave spirits for permission to enter and to be granted safe passage. It is clear, after so many seasons of work, that we still have far more exploration of passages and mapping to do. And while we’re there, we’ll continue to gather specimens and data so that we may learn all we can about what there is to be found in one of the world’s most magnificent caves.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: THE FIRST BIG CHAMBER INSIDE THE SÓTANO DE SAN AGUSTÍN ENTRANCE OF SISTEMA HUAUTLA. PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVE BUNNELL. FACING PAGE: JOHN YOUNG RAPPELS DOWN ALONGSIDE A WATERFALL DEEP IN SISTEMA HUAUTLA. PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS HIGGINS. THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: A 2,000-YEAR-OLD CERAMIC “BLOOD COLLECTOR” IN THE FORM OF A HUMAN ARM. PHOTOGRAPH BY AUDREY STEELE BRIGGS. THE PESH TEAM WITH EXPLORERS CLUB FLAG Nº228. PHOTOGRAPH BY BILL STEELE.

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CHASING CHANCHITA THE

an exotic fish plying the seasonal wetlands of Florida text and images by RYAN CRUTCHFIELD

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A FELLOW IN THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2020, RYAN CRUTCHFIELD IS THE FOUNDER OF FISHMAP.ORG, A CITIZEN SCIENCE WEBSITE USED FOR MAPPING AND TRACKING FISH SPECIES, AND HE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE USE OF DRONES FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. HIS FIELDWORK HAS FOCUSED ON ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, AND ICHTHYOLOGY AND WHERE TECHNOLOGY INTERSECTS WITH THESE DISCIPLINES. HE ALSO SERVES ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE BIODIVERSITY GROUP, BASED IN PICTURE ROCKS, AZ.

more than 400 square kilometers protected as wilderness preserve and 1,300 square kilometers designated as an Area of Critical State Concern—the Green Swamp is the heart of the Floridan aquifer. Toward the end of the dry season in 2022, I began sampling isolated pools of water within the swamp where large groups of fish had been concentrated by the shrinking waters. Strikingly, most of the fish in these pools were nonindigenous. In one pool alone, the only native fish species noted was a solitary warmouth, which was mixed in among the cichlids and armored catfish. I was searching for Cichlasoma dimerus, known as the chanchita, the very same small blue-green acara seen by Sucksdorff floating along the trails in the Pantanal. The chanchita is a cichlid that is gray to silver, with green and blue hues on its body and fins. A blackish green-gray stripe extends from behind the eye through a mid-lateral spot, and then to a black spot at the upper tail fin. The caudal fin is asymmetrically patterned and there is black rimming along the scale edges on its head and nape. My obsession with the chanchita began in the fall of 2015 when I took a closer look at another small cichlid caught while fishing in west-central Florida. I first caught this species in 2013 when it had been identified as a black acara (Cichlasoma bimaculatum). The black acara is another nonindigenous species that has been established in Florida waters since 1965, when it was first formally identified in Fort Lauderdale. However, it is thought that it has existed in Miami waters since the late 1950s. Until then, the black acara had been farmed in Florida for the

In 1981, the acclaimed Swedish documentary filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff published a book of photos and short reflections on his time living in the Pantanal region of Mato Grosso in Brazil. In it, he recounts an event in the month of November when the nightly rains continued to grow in intensity until, upon waking one morning, he found that the game trails and paths had transformed into shallow streams just centimeters deep. These flooded paths teemed with endless rows of fish traversing the terrain. He noted tetras, trahiras, and small blue-green acaras floundering through the landscape, and, at times, across dry land, accompanied by the occasional crab. Bewitched, he sat and watched the fishes as they crawled out of a pond and into the forest, heading toward the next water source, which was kilometers away over elevated ground. Sucksdorff witnessed a rarely observed dispersal mode used by these fishes during the rainy season, but one that has been noted in South American species before. Forty years later, and 6,000 kilometers from the Pantanal, I have been chasing one of those species in the middle of the Green Swamp, which straddles five counties in central Florida between Tampa and Orlando. The swamp covers more than 2,000 square kilometers, and contains the headwaters of the Peace, Withlacoochee, Ocklawaha, and Hillsborough rivers. Recognized as an important part of the Florida ecosystem—with

OPENING SPREAD: A ROAD LEADING INTO THE STUDY AREA. FACING PAGE: DURING THE DRY SEASON, THE FISH ARE CONCENTRATED IN POOLS IN THE GREEN SWAMP, MAKING THEM EASIER TO FIND.

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aquarium trade, but when air cargo shipments started to make more colorful fishes readily available, it was abandoned and released into Florida waters, having been deemed too drab and common to stock. However, I was not satisfied that the fish I was seeing were the same as the black acara I had observed in southern Florida. I reached out to Cichlasoma expert Sven Kullander, who authored the book on the genus—A  Revision of the South American Cichlid genus Cichlasoma. Kullander suggested that the fish I was finding might be C. dimerus instead of C. bimaculatum and gave me pointers to investigate for the future. Recently, I came across some correspondence between Kullander and the National Fisheries Research Center from 1993, in which he expressed surprise at the fact that C. dimerus was not present in any of the samples sent to him from Florida for identification because it was by far the most common species of that genus in Europe at the time. In 2018, I was discussing other exotic species in Florida with Rob Robins, who is the ichthyology collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History. During our conversation, I brought up the potential misidentification of this species and was excited to learn that he had been having similar discussions with Mary Brown of the U.S. Geological Survey about the potential misidentification. Together, we coordinated our efforts and conducted field collections and analysis throughout 2019. As a result, we were able to publish our findings in early 2020. We discovered that the cichlids previously identified in central Florida as black acara were actually chanchita and that the black acara is now known to only exist in the southern Florida watersheds.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: THE WATER LEVEL IN THE GREEN SWAMP DIFFERS GREATLY BETWEEN THE DRY SEASON AND WET. FACING PAGE: A SEASONAL POOL WHERE THE CHANCHITA THRIVES.

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This is just the beginning of a series of small field expeditions that will attempt to establish the range of the chanchita. While chanchita have been found as far north as Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest, I will spend time focusing on filling in the gaps between Tampa and Orlando. Additionally, I will begin examining the full extent of the Withlacoochee River as it exits the Green Swamp and runs up through Dunnellon before it empties out into the Gulf of Mexico. As I was heading home, having dropped off the specimens at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, it began to rain. The state’s dry season was ending and soon the creeks and swamps would rise back up as the rains started their summertime routine. A few months later, Hurricane Ian roared ashore along the southwestern coast and crossed the state before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. This event, along with Hurricane Nicole in November, led to the Orlando area recording their wettest autumn ever and to historic flooding across much of central Florida. Some areas near the Green Swamp received nearly 25 centimeters of rain during Ian alone and the Orlando airport recorded some 56 centimeters of rain. These events are reminiscent of the way Rob Robins and others believe that the brown hoplo (Hoplosternum littorale), another nonindigenous permanent resident of the state from South America, rapidly colonized the peninsula. Similar storm and weather events in the mid-1990s are believed to have been a primary driver of the brown hoplo across the landscape. Robins has assisted local ranchers in central Florida at isolated cattle ponds that have been filled with hundreds or thousands of brown hoplo. These fish were stranded with no other standing water for kilometers and waiting for their next opportunity to move on. I cannot help but be reminded of Sucksdorff sitting in the Pantanal, entranced by the fishes moving along the ground, out of the pools and onto their next destination.

In retrospect, this distribution aligns with the environment from which these two species originated. The black acara is native to equatorial South America, stretching from Venezuela to French Guiana and portions of northern Brazil. The chanchita is found farther south in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, at latitudes from approximately 15°S to 34°S. While it is likely that the black acara will remain relegated to the swamps and canals of southern Florida for the time being, the identification of the chanchita in Florida waters raises a much more daunting specter in terms of potential dispersion. In a recent study led by Brown, it was determined that the chanchita had the highest cold tolerance of any nonindigenous fish species evaluated in the state of Florida, including blue tilapia and Nile tilapia. They can withstand temperatures as low as 7.8°C (46°F) before losing equilibrium and can survive an astounding 4.7°C (40.5°F) before dying. This means that it is suitably adapted to survive in central Florida and has the potential to become established even farther north. The chanchita prefers microhabitats that may further protect it against the effects of colder weather. They can be found close to shore and under overhangs, as well as embedded thoroughly in any dense vegetation. I believe that these behaviors are at least partly in response to lower local temperatures. The question of where exactly the chanchita has dispersed in Florida is why I have been trekking across the Green Swamp and sampling the waters. They are legion. I found chanchita in every location I sampled. They were not previously documented from this area and, while every data point helps, it feels like I am years behind their arrival here and this is an old neighborhood for them.

FROM TOP: A GREEN SWAMP CHANCHITA AND A BROWN HOPLO (HOPLOSTERNUM LITTORALE), ONE OF THE NONINDIGENOUS ARMORED CATFISH FOUND IN THE GREEN SWAMP.

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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Joseph Dituri on his record-breaking 100 days under the sea interview by MICHAEL J. MANYAK

RETURN OF FLAG Nº224 EXPLORERS CLUB FLAG Nº224 MADE ITS FIRST FORAY INTO THE FIELD WITH THIS EXPEDITION. AS SUCH, THE FIRST CHAPTER IN ITS HISTORY IS PRESENTED HERE IN THESE PAGES.

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ON JUNE 9, 2023, EXPLORERS CLUB FELLOW JOSEPH DITURI SURFACED AFTER LIVING UNDERWATER FOR 100 DAYS, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR SUCH AN ENDEAVOR BY NEARLY A MONTH. RESIDING IN A 9-SQUARE-METER HABITAT LOCATED SOME 7 METERS DOWN ON THE SEAFLOOR OFF KEY LARGO, FLORIDA, DITURI TESTED NOVEL EQUIPMENT AND CAPTURED A VARIETY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA, DEMONSTRATING THAT HUMANS CAN RESIDE AND FUNCTION IN SUCH ISOLATED ENVIRONMENTS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME—A NECESSITY FOR FUTURE SPACE TRAVEL. A RETIRED NAV Y COMMANDER WITH A PHD IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, DITURI HAS MADE QUITE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN THE REALM OF SATURATION DIVING AND DEEP SUBMERGENCE, AS WELL AS SUBMERSIBLE DESIGN. HE IS A DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF UNDERSEA MEDICINE AND COAUTHOR OF THE TAO OF SURVIVAL UNDERWATER, AS WELL AS A NOTED CONTRIBUTOR TO THE U.S. NAV Y DIVING MANUAL. EXPLORERS JOURNAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR MICHAEL J. MANYAK, HIMSELF AN MD AND NOTABLE FIGURE IN THE ARENA OF EXPEDITION MEDICINE, CAUGHT UP WITH DITURI TO DISCUSS HIS EXPEDITION AND THE RISKS AND REWARDS OF DEEP OCEAN EXPLORATION.

MICHAEL J. MANYAK: Clearly, we want to chat about your intriguing Project Neptune 100 expedition and what you learned on your extended underwater stay, but we would be remiss not to ask about underwater safety more broadly, now that it is back on the front burner with the recent OceanGate Titan submersible disaster. I had the pleasure of going down to the Titanic in one of the Russian Mir submersibles on a salvage expedition, during which I had extensive talks with its engineers about its safety design. Their preparation and maintenance of the sub, as well as their long track record in operating the 6-plus-centimeter-thick titanium-hulled vehicles at that depth, reassured me. And I know that you have designed and built submersibles for the Navy Seals. What is your take on the disaster? JOSEPH DITURI: While I am deep submergence qualified and have intimate knowledge of certain applications of deep diving, I am afraid my expertise with subs stops at 2,000

feet [600 meters] of sea water. However, I did sit on the American Bureau of Shipping committee for building and classing undersea vehicles and hyperbaric systems and I can state with certainty that building systems for that depth are difficult and classing them is even more so. MJM: So tragic. So, what drove you to embark on your recent record-breaking foray to the Jules’ Undersea Lodge? [The lodge is a decommissioned research habitat launched by Explorers Club medalist Ian Koblick off the coast of Puerto Rico in 1972, only to be brought back to Key Largo and refurbished as an undersea hotel in 1986.] JD: This underwater environment is an analog for space travel, with some similar obstacles, such as isolation and gravitational changes. So, it provides an ideal laboratory in which to figure out the problems extended space travel presents to the best of our ability before we embark on such an endeavor. I personally think that aquanauts would make the best astronauts.

OPENING SPREAD: JOSEPH DITURI LOOKS OUT THE PORTHOLE OF THE JULES’ UNDERSEA LODGE OFF KEY LARGO, FLORIDA. PHOTOGRAPH BY LORDELIFE. FACING PAGE, FROM TOP: AN ARTIST’S RENDERING OF THE LODGE AND DITURI TESTING HIS BRAIN WAVES AND FREQUENCY IN A SELFIE TAKEN DURING HIS 100-DAY UNDERWATER MISSION.

MJM: How did you settle on 100 days as the goal for your expedition? Would you have stayed longer if you could? JD: Knowing that it will take 200 days to get to Mars by conventional means, we need to

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study what it is like for humans living in isolated, confined, and extreme environments. Although we are only halfway to that time span at 100 days, this was the bar I was prepared to set at this time, as it would have been logistically and financially difficult to stay longer. MJM: What was your greatest fear? JD: Fear is steeped in the unknown, so I have chosen to approach things analytically, which is the reason we train extensively, to prepare for known events but also to be able to react when something unexpected happens. My U.S. Navy experience as officer-in-charge of the Deep Submergence Unit helped me underscore the importance of training regimens. It was widely acknowledged that these training protocols are essential to be able to react in an adverse situation. The old adage, “Train like you fight and fight like you train,” is embodied in our ethos. I knew the fail-safe protocols and practiced them. There is great comfort in knowing you have prepared extensively for such circumstances. I knew, for instance, that a catastrophic implosion—as what happened to the Titan—was highly unlikely and that if it did occur, there was nothing one could do about it. So, you mentally remove that from your worry list. My greatest concern was with the outside air supply being contaminated or suddenly dysfunctional. To prepare for that, we had bailout cylinders in every room and the bedroom, easily detachable, which would give me about six hours of oxygen to effect escape or rescue. The outside air supply was monitored closely for CO2 build up or decreased O2 pressure. Although the source had a 10-micron filter, you realize that is a pretty good deterrent to

JOSEPH DITURI ENJOYED OBSERVING THE OCEAN LIFE FROM HIS PORTHOLE. PHOTOGRAPH BY LORDELIFE.

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JD: That was a concern, as higher partial pressure can lead to oxygen toxicity. The partial pressure of oxygen we breathed was approximately 35 percent (or .35 PO2), which is higher than room air. It was still safe, but likely close to the limit because I was beginning to experience respiratory symptoms.

particulates but modest protection at best for microbial or viral contamination. It was comforting to know that the continuously running airflow would completely be replaced every 66 minutes. Even so, I used a brand-new patented device of my own design to test CO2 levels, which provided underwater testing as well as independent confirmation of CO2 levels.

MJM: Oxygen toxicity can be acute or chronic, with acute toxicity leading to central nervous system symptoms, while chronic toxicity leads to pulmonary effects. I suspect you were more concerned with the chronic type. JD: I was, knowing oxygen toxicity can lead to cell death. In this case, it impacts your ability to breathe. Long duration stays in this type of environment can lead to substernal irritation, pain on inspiration, a dry scratchy cough, and reduced vital capacity. These same problems can be found in some patients on hyperbaric therapy, in premature infants, and with some divers who have stayed too long breathing higher partial pressures of oxygen.

MJM: I was fascinated to see you employing a physiological monitoring patch system developed by NASA. When I was on the NASA Aerospace Medicine Advisory Board several years ago, I was asked, because of my biotech imaging background, to present at NASA’s Ames Research Center conference on noninvasive imaging because they wanted to develop a device like the Star Trek tricorder. I was one of three MDs and the rest were materials scientists, chemical engineers, physiologists, astrophysicists, and allied disciplines. I always wondered about the outcome of that project, and it sounds a lot like your patch device. JD: Yes, this device was quite interesting, but it did fluctuate a bit with higher pressure. The blood pressure readings, for example, were off about 10 units below sea level, though they remained consistent. It is like taking blood pressure with a jacket on. This system was absolutely accurate at sea level.

MJM: Besides the device monitoring, was a team or group of physicians and scientists monitoring you regularly? JD: We had 10 physicians, two psychologists, and a psychiatrist monitoring my status throughout the expedition. This was important because changes can be subtle.

MJM: As long as you know that occurs, you can adjust as necessary. I am glad to hear that the device is still useful. JD: Exactly.

MJM: Understood. Former Navy Seal trainer, two psychologists. Sounds about right. How was your mental status over the course of the experiment? The military has studied isolation in austere environments, and at about three weeks of isolation changes begin to take place related to stress and orientation. I think any of us out in an austere location have noticed getting a bit tired of the environment or a little goofy after two weeks or so. Throw in stress, and I

MJM: What about oxygen toxicity with higher partial pressures? That can also be a problem.

THE ENTRANCE TO THE JULES’ UNDERSEA LODGE. PHOTOGRAPH BY LORDELIFE.

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is a cheap warning that oxygen may be low. Interestingly, this also worked when I returned to surface level. I would go on a six-minute walk, which should be no problem since I stay in good shape, but I noted that I was yawning midway in the walk and tested my oxygen level and found it low. This was very disconcerting, but it has improved gradually. In addition to this, there were some changes noted near the end of the expedition. We had been measuring lung vital capacity throughout and noted a decrease of 4 percent at day 90. By day 100, it was down 7  percent. This is significant loss of lung expansion. The implication is that we may be near the limit of human endurance in such an environment. I had also developed a dry cough at this time, a symptom of pulmonary effect of loss of surfactant, which can facilitate a pulmonary infection. Fortunately, this did not happen. We will determine whether or not these pulmonary changes are reversible by return to surface conditions.

can see that possibly being an issue. I know that under stress, pathology will come out. What was your experience? Aside from some people thinking you are a little crazy to do this anyway [laughs]. JD: Well, I knew I was being monitored and relatively safe so did not register anything like anxiety or any psychological issues. But you may want to ask my psychologists! While the initial results are in, we have yet to complete the surfacing results. MJM: If you did not notice any physiological issues, were there any interesting findings in the lab values you were collecting? JD: Yes indeed. Beyond routine electrolyte levels, the extensive metabolic panels included several inflammatory markers, hormones, and vitamin levels at five different intervals. Over the course of the trip, I had significant decreases of around 50  percent in inflammatory markers and about a 50  percent decrease in cortisol, the stress hormone. My cholesterol decreased 72  points, a significant change. Oxidative stress markers also were decreased similarly. We are waiting for the one-month post-expedition labs to see if these changes reverted to pre-expedition levels.

MJM: How did you relieve boredom alone in the unit? JD: First, I was not bored. I had many tests to perform and samples to collect, which kept me pretty busy. Furthermore, we had a big outreach program where I interacted with more than 5,000 students from 15 countries at every level in 124 online events. I also virtually taught an online course at the University of South Florida medical school in biomedical engineering. There was no time to be bored and I believe these activities helped maintain sanity in isolation. And who knows? One of these students may come back some day and break the record we just set. That’s my hope.

MJM: I am particularly intrigued by the oxidative stress marker reduction. Oxidative stress is implicated in heart disease and cancer development. The same for inflammation. Did you notice any respiratory changes during your stay? JD: There were some issues with breathing. For example, for the first week and a half, resistance to breathing was noticeable, it was difficult to inhale. But my body began to compensate and breathing became easier after time. Occasionally, I would notice myself yawning, which prompted me to check oxygen levels. They were usually lower, so I would increase the oxygen flow and the yawning would subside. This

JOSEPH DITURI RESURFACES ON JUNE 9, 2023, AFTER LIVING 100 DAYS BENEATH THE WAVES. PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVE DECKER.

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HARVESTING THE WILD

a shady delight by LES STROUD and CHEF PAUL ROGALSKI

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salad of twisted stalk, tomato, and wild mint blossoms SERVES 4

EVERY SO OFTEN I GET TO INTRODUCE CHEF PAUL TO A PLANT THAT EVEN I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH—PARTICULARLY WHEN I HAVE SEEN A PLANT MANY TIMES, WONDERING IF IT WAS AN EDIBLE. AS WITH ALL PLANTS, ESPECIALLY BERRIES, YOU HAVE TO BE THERE JUST AS THEY RIPEN TO PERFECTION, WHICH WAS THE CASE WITH TWISTED STALK (STREPTOPUS SPP.)—A SHADE-LOVING PERENNIAL BETTER KNOWN AS WATERMELON BERRIES—IN ALBERTA. THEY’RE PLUMP, BRIGHTLY COLORED, JUICY, AND DELICIOUS. FOR ME, THIS FORAY PROVIDED A OPPORTUNITY FOR TWO NEW FORAGING ADVENTURES—THE FIRST BEING THE BERRIES AND THE SECOND BEING THE WILD MINT, WHICH JUST HAPPENED TO BE GROWING RIGHT BESIDE POISONOUS HEMLOCK.

allows the flavor of the berries to prevail. Be careful as the intense flavor of the mint flowers can easily overtake this dish. Using a very sharp knife, slice tomatoes as thin as possible. Lay each slice down separately on serving dishes. Sprinkle with salt. In a small bowl, toss the twisted stalk berries with another sprinkle of salt and evenly distribute on the tomatoes. Add an equal portion of wild mint flowers to each plate and finish with a sprinkle of fresh cracked pepper. Serve and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup twisted stalk berries, washed and dried 4 tomatoes, washed and dried 1 tbsp wild mint flowers, washed and dried salt & pepper to taste

Twisted stalk berries are explosively juicy, with gentle notes of watermelon and cucumber that can be easily overpowered by most any ingredient. Something as simple as a sliced tomato, however, works well and

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EXTREME MEDICINE YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE FIELD

H2Oh no keeping your head above water by MICHAEL J. MANYAK, MD, FACS

four persons receive care in the emergency department for nonfatal drowning. The drowning process begins with respiratory impairment as the victim’s airway goes below the surface of the liquid (submersion) or water covers the face (immersion). If the person is rescued at any time, the process of drowning is interrupted, and is termed a nonfatal drowning. A fatal drowning occurs if the person dies at any time as a result of drowning. Any submersion or immersion incident without evidence of respiratory impairment is considered a water rescue and not a drowning. Water enters the mouth when a drowning person can no longer keep the airway clear and is reflexively spat out or swallowed. The person then holds their breath for about a minute but then some water is aspirated into the airways, causing a cough reflex. Aspiration continues if rescue does not occur, leading to quick loss of consciousness and breathing and rapid cardiac deterioration. The whole process from submersion to cardiac arrest takes seconds to a few minutes, except in cases of hypothermia in cold water where the process can be prolonged for an hour. The clinical situation—if the person is rescued alive—is determined by the amount of

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines drowning as the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid. WHO estimates more than 500,000 annual deaths occur due to unintentional drowning. This figure underestimates the actual figure and does not include drownings that occur as a result of floods, tsunamis, and boating accidents. Drowning is a leading cause of death worldwide among boys five to 14 years of age. In the United States, drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death among children aged one to four years. In many countries in Africa and Central America, the incidence of drowning is 10 to 20 times as high as that in the United States. Key risk factors for drowning are male sex, age of less than 14 years, alcohol use, low income, poor education, rural residency, aquatic exposure, risky behavior, and lack of supervision. Although motor vehicle accidents remain the greatest cause of death in travelers, drowning is a close second among younger ages. In fact, adjusted for exposure time, estimates for drowning are 200 times as high as deaths from traffic accidents. The economic burden is even higher because for every person who dies from drowning, another 80

three times the likelihood of a favorable outcome. In-water resuscitation, however, is only possible with a highly trained rescuer. Chest compressions are not possible when the rescuer and drowning person are in deep water and ventilation alone should be performed. Assessment for a pulse does not serve any purpose. Drowning persons with only respiratory arrest usually respond after a few rescue breaths. With no response, the person should be assumed to be in cardiac arrest and be taken as quickly as possible to dry land, where effective CPR can begin. Fortunately, cervical spine injuries occur in less than 0.5 percent of drowning persons, and spine immobilization in the water is indicated only where head or neck injury is strongly suspected, such as in diving, waterskiing, surfing, or watercraft accidents. Maintain the person in a vertical position during a water rescue in these circumstances while keeping the airway open to prevent vomiting and further aspiration of water and stomach contents. On land, the victim should be placed face up with trunk and head level. If unconscious but breathing, place the person in a lateral position to avoid aspiration of stomach contents. Regurgitation of stomach contents interfering with oxygenation occurs in 65  percent of persons who require rescue breathing alone and in 86 percent of those who require CPR. Ventilation is essential if not breathing. Start with five initial rescue breaths, followed by 30  chest compressions, and continue with two rescue breaths and 30 compressions until signs of life reappear, the rescuer becomes exhausted, or advanced life support becomes available. Abdominal thrusts delay the initiation of ventilation and greatly increase the risk of vomiting and mortality. Every drowning signals the failure of the most effective intervention: prevention. More than 85 percent of cases of drowning can be prevented by supervision, swimming instruction, technology, regulation, and public education. Commit these measures to your memory.

water aspirated and its effects. The change in osmotic gradient causes disruption of the delicate membrane interface between the lung and vascular capillaries where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. This leads to fluid collection and decreased pulmonary function with very low ventilation and collapse of the lung. Residual fluid can lead to pneumonia if the victim survives. Aspiration of salt water and fresh water cause similar degrees of injury. Aspiration of swimming-pool water rarely results in pneumonia. Risk of neurologic damage is similar to that in other instances of cardiac arrest if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is needed. In cases of hypothermia associated with drowning, victims can survive prolonged submersion. Hypothermia reduces oxygen consumption in the brain and reduces the metabolic activity of the brain in a temperature-dependent fashion. Studies have shown the rate of cerebral oxygen consumption is reduced by approximately 5 percent for each reduction of 1°C in temperature within the range of 37°C to 20°C. Many drowning persons are either able to help themselves or are rescued in time by bystanders or professional rescuers. In areas with lifeguards, less than 6 percent of all rescued persons need medical attention and just 0.5 percent need CPR. In one report of rescues by bystanders, CPR was required by 30 percent of those rescued from drowning. As with all first responders, personal safety is imperative and untrained rescuers should provide help from out of the water if possible. Safe rescue techniques include reaching to the drowning person with an object such as a pole, towel, or tree branch or throwing a buoyant object. These quick, safe responses are often neglected in the moment. Rescue and resuscitation should begin immediately. Conscious victims should be brought to land, and basic life support started as soon as possible. For an unconscious victim, in-water resuscitation may provide 81

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BOOK REVIEWS EDITED BY MILBRY C. POLK

GUARDIANS OF THE VALLE Y BY DEAN KING

480 PP • NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, 2023 • ISBN-10: 1982144467 • ISBN-13: 978-1982144463 • $30

Explorer and author Dean King’s new book, Guardians of the Valley, tells a wellresearched story of the collaboration between famed author and conservationist John Muir, aka the “Father of the National Parks,” and his publisher, Robert Johnson, editor of The Century Magazine, to create what we know of as Yosemite National Park. As a young man, Muir trekked across the United

States, ending up, in 1869, as a sheep herder in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was there that he had his first views of the “raw beauty” of Yosemite. He was horrified to see the wanton destruction of this beautiful landscape by hordes of ranchers, farmers, loggers, miners, and settlers. He wrote his first book about this experience, bringing him to the attention of Johnson, then a budding magazine editor. In 1889, Johnson traveled west to meet Muir. It was the beginning of a fruitful friendship that would give rise to the modern conservation movement. They would take their efforts beyond the printed page to the halls of Congress, where they lobbied for the creation of the park. Muir believed “its fate would define the nation’s future.” Many luminaries of the day, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Teddy Roosevelt, were drawn to Muir and became his champions. Muir viewed Roosevelt as “the last, best hope to prevent the American wilderness from being swallowed whole by a voracious

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nation whose appetite and aspirations were fueled by natural resources.” He was particularly troubled by the wholesale destruction of the towering sequoia trees. Muir—who founded the Sierra Club in 1892 and, with Johnson, the National Forestry Commission in 1896—went on a camping trip with Roosevelt in 1903, during which the president realized the importance of the creation of national parks. Roosevelt would go on to create five national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries, and 150 national forests. King details the political struggles Muir and Johnson faced in their attempts to get the politicians at both the national and local levels behind the creation of the parks and forestry departments. Thanks in part to Johnson, Muir’s writing reached a wide swath of the public and garnered substantial support. King’s tribute to Muir and Johnson is exemplary and, reading his book, Americans will understand the great debt we owe to these men.

BOOK RE VIE WS

THE WAGER BY DAVID GRANN

352 PP • NEW YORK: DOUBLEDAY, 2023 • ISBN-10: 0385534264 • ISBN-13:  978-0385534260 • $30 • REVIEWED BY WEST HANSEN

Left to our own devices, with scarce food, no shelter, and no chance of rescue on a desolate rock close to the near-frozen, storm-beaten tip of South America, accompanied by shipwrecked men who wouldn’t give one another the time of day back home, the core of who we truly are is revealed, when tragedy upon tragedy strips away what we contrive for our civilized existence. For the crew of the HMS Wager, launched from England in 1740 on a secret mission, it didn’t take endless hours of butt-warming on a psychotherapy couch for that void to stare back at them. David Grann returns with yet another exceptional story with his latest book,

The Wager, a tale that shook the world when it occurred, then faded into history. As with his previous works, Grann conducted scholarly research, pointing out in his forward what he was able to verify and what he wasn’t, then reporting each accounting of the incident in relevant context, contrasting the conflicting accounts without passing judgement. Impressively, the author details the subsequent investigations by the British Admiralty and public without tedium, the findings of which set the stage for how what was to become the mightiest naval force in history set its jaw for the next two centuries. A rare few on the crew or command escaped unscathed by their glaring shortcomings, save for the children and those fortunate enough to die early in the cascade of horrible disasters. Given this dour description, The Wager isn’t simply a list of mistakes surrounding a grand tragedy. The crew had the latest science, charts, and navigation on hand, though from the perspective of a handheld GPS unit, the historic ship was flying blind through the Drake Passage. For those drawn to stories of adventure in treacherous conditions, perhaps for the lessons they provide and perhaps for a miniscule sense of camaraderie, this is a great story.

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THE LAGOON BY JAMES MICHAEL DORSEY

288 PP • NEW YORK: DIVERSION BOOKS, 2023 • ISBN-10: 163576842X • ISBN-13: 978-1635768428 • $28.99

Travel writer and cetacean naturalist James Michael Dorsey has penned a new book, The Lagoon: Encounters with the Whales of San Ignacio, in which he chronicles some three decades of observing whales in the lagoon off the coast of Baja. Once a center of whale hunting and butchery, it is now a protected zone. Gray whales can grow up to 15 meters in length and have a ridge of bumps along their backs. They are baleen whales and are usually found swimming in the shallow coastal waters where they can easily scoop up small fish, algae, krill, and other prey. Their main predator is the orca, or killer whale. The whales

BOOK RE VIE WS

tend to spend the summer and fall in the far northern Chukchi and Bering seas, before embarking on an epic 7,000-nautical-mile journey south in mid-December. A few—two to four hundred— will end up in San Ignacio, where they will winter over. Dorsey explains that the attraction of San Ignacio is due both to the saltiness of its water, which provides buoyancy for the calves who will be born in the lagoon, as well as the protection it provides from predatory killer whales. Dorsey writes of nineteenthcentury whalers who were attracted to San  Ignacio as it was practically a “giant fish pond” where one could literally “walk across the water on the backs of the gray whales.” An immense yearly slaughter followed the discovery. For Dorsey, whose own long journey with whales began on a kayaking trip with his wife in British Columbia, “the Pacific gray whale is a regal creature…who openly displays affection and protects the weaker” of its kind. Despite centuries of slaughter, no other creature approaches humans to be touched. Dorsey takes the reader into this special world of whales, combining history, lore, and contemporary science while documenting his life spent among these noble creatures of the sea.

MANY THINGS UNDER A ROCK BY DAVID SCHEEL ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAUREL “YOYO” SCHEEL

320 PP • NEW YORK: W.W. NORTON, 2023 • ISBN-10: 1324020695 • ISBN-13: 978-1324020691 • $28.95

For most of human history, our interaction with octopuses has either been culinary—as people viewed these otherworldly creatures as a delicacy—or they have inspired our imaginations, our likening these strange creatures to sea monsters. It is only in recent years that scientists have discovered that these marvelous cephalopods are highly intelligent and capable of learning and leading quite complex lives. Marine biologist David Scheel has written Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses, a fascinating book based on the decades he has spent studying these sagacious ocean dwellers.

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Most of Scheel’s work has been carried out along the coastlines of Alaska, principally Prince William Sound, where, he says, he quickly realized the “key into their world would be through their front doors,” in other words, the rocky places where they make their dens. He peppers his chapters with fascinating stories, such as how octopuses eat giant clams. They use some of the 2,000 suckers that line their eight arms to pull apart the clamshell, or drill into it with their beaks, before injecting paralyzing saliva through the hole they have made. Because octopuses “live in hostile seas, full of watching predatory eyes,” they have developed an ingenious art of disguise: the ability to change the color and texture of their glutenous skin to match their surroundings. While we humans have neurons in our brains, the octopuses, it seems, have neurons along each of their arms, allowing each to act independently. This is bizarrely apparent when severed arms can continue to crawl and inspect the environment through the suckers. Encounters between octopuses are invariably dangerous affairs, as they tend to cannibalize each other, which may explain their solitary nature. Scheel recounts an incident where a

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male attempting to mate with a female was instead killed and eaten by her, which allowed for another male to sneak in and copulate with the now-sated female. After reading this book, you will never again consider a plate of octopus, choosing instead to join Scheel in observing this most wonderous of creatures on our planet.

THE ELEPHANTS OF THULA THULA BY FRANÇOISE MALBY-ANTHONY

320 PP • NEW YORK: ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, 2023 • ISBN-10: 1250284252 • ISBN-13: 978-1250284259 • $29.99

Françoise Malby-Anthony lives in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where she manages a private preserve she founded with her late husband, conservationist Lawrence Anthony, author of The Elephant Whisperer. To fund their conservation efforts—buying up more

land and animal management—she runs two lodges on the preserve. Her latest book, The Elephants of Thula  Thula, details the extraordinary adventures she has had with the wildlife living in the park. The Anthonys bought their first 1,000 hectares of land that became Thula Thula (its name meaning “quiet, quiet,” or “peace and tranquility” in Zulu) in the 1990s and, by 1999, their first elephants arrived. The animals had been considered “problem” elephants and destined to be culled before their rescue. Working with the local communities, the Anthonys expanded the land set aside for wildlife conservation and built a dam to provide water for the animals. In her new narrative, Malby-Anthony tells stories about many of the elephants she observed, such as the daring and feisty Frankie, who once carefully picked her way between a barricade of live wires to enter Malby-Anthony’s garden— leaving her herd just outside to spy on Malby-Anthony inside her house. She also details the problems they had with a rhino they had raised, which had since been returned to the wild. His troublesome behavior abated once they realized he simply needed a “girlfriend.” The park now includes an orphanage for young rhinos

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traumatized by the poaching of their parents. But even they are at risk. The orphanage was attacked by poachers who “killed two baby rhinos only 18 months old, to take their tiny horns.” In 2019, a further 2,000 hectares was added to the preserve. Malby-Anthony said that while that was wonderful, allowing more animals, better conservation, and “a more dynamic ecosystem,” the costs were greater too with the installation of muchneeded electronic fencing, the hiring of more rangers, the creation of firebreaks, and the clearing of invasive species. “The list,” writes Malby-Anthony, “is endless and all of it costs money.” Although covid closed the lodges and the vital source of income, Malby-Anthony managed to keep all the staff safe and, importantly, paid during the lockdown through an ingenious program to adopt not only an elephant or rhino, but a ranger and other staff. Just as covid restrictions were easing, another problem loomed when a mining company applied for a lease on adjacent land. Despite the constant threats to her Thula Thula preserve, Malby-Anthony’s story is a model of what an individual can do when united with a community, fueled by a dream and a passion for animals, toward rewilding a small part of the world.

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chapter chairs THE E XPL ORERS CLUB 46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG | 212-628-8383

AFRICA Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka [email protected]

FLORIDA Joseph Dituri, PhD [email protected]

AL ASK A Mead Treadwell [email protected]

GEORGE ROGERS CL ARK Cindy Pennington [email protected]

ATL ANTA Mark Hay [email protected]

GREAT BRITAIN & IREL AND Mark Wood [email protected] Rory Golden, Vice Chair [email protected]

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEAL AND Todd Tai [email protected] BHUTAN Matthew DeSantis [email protected] CANADA Jeff Britnell [email protected] CHICAGO/GREAT L AKES Deana Weibel, PhD [email protected] CONTINENTAL EUROPE Ief Winckelmans [email protected] EAST & SOUTH ASIA Steven R. Schwankert [email protected]

NORTH PACIFIC AL ASK A Joshua C. Lewis & Victoria M. Becwar-Lewis [email protected] NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Jimmy Friedman [email protected] NORWAY Synnøve Marie Kvam Strømsvåg [email protected] PACIFIC NORTHWEST Eric Rasmussen [email protected]

GREATER PIEDMONT James Borton [email protected]

PHIL ADELPHIA Matt Peoples [email protected]

HAWAII Mark Blackburn [email protected]

POL AND Mariusz Ziółkowski [email protected] www.explorersclubpoland.pl

HONG KONG Angélica Anglés [email protected] L ATIN AMERICA Cristián Pérez Navarro [email protected]

ROCK Y MOUNTAIN Jeff Blumenfeld [email protected] www.explorers-rm.org

MIDDLE EAST (open) [email protected]

SAN DIEGO David Dolan [email protected]

NEW ENGL AND Gregory Deyermenjian [email protected]

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Steve Elkins [email protected]

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SOUTHERN FLORIDA Bruce C. Matheson [email protected] SOUTHWEST Robert Louis DeMayo [email protected] ST. LOUIS Thomas F. Schlafly [email protected] SWEDEN Lars E. Larsson [email protected] SWITZERL AND Marcelo Garcia [email protected] TEX AS West Hansen [email protected] WASHINGTON, DC Arnella Trent [email protected]

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legacy society “MEMBERS OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB ARE A SOURCE OF GREAT INSPIRATION AS I CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THE WORLD. TO ENSURE THAT THE MISSION OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB CONTINUES, I HAVE INCLUDED A GIFT TO THE CLUB IN MY ESTATE PLANNING. I ENCOURAGE MY FELLOW MEMBERS TO DO LIKEWISE.” —DAVID S. PRESS, LM’18, LEGACY SOCIETY COCHAIR

Mark R. Allio • John G. Alexander • Alan B. Albright • Robert J. Atwater • Capt. Norman L. Baker* • Barbara Ballard • Robert D. Ballard, PhD • Samuel B. Ballen* • Mark Gregory Bayuk • Daniel A. Bennett • Josh Bernstein • Bruce Blanchard • John R. Bockstoce, DPhil • Jack Aaron Boggs* • Bjorn G. Bolstad* • Capt. Bruce M. Bongar, PhD • Brian M. Boom, PhD • Jill Botway • Garrett R. Bowden • Capt. Lawson W. Brigham,  PhD,  USCG (ret.) • Harry Davis Brooks • Lt.  Col.  Jewell Richard Browder* • August “Augie” Brown* • John  C.D. Bruno • Marc Bryan-Brown • Lee R. Bynum* • Virginia Castagnola-Hunter • Julianne M. Chase, PhD • James M. Chester* • James Thomas Chirurg • Maj. Gen. Arthur W. Clark, USAF (ret.) • Capt. William Clark* • Steven Cohen, PhD (hon.) • Leslie E. Colby* • Jonathan M. Conrad • Catherine Nixon Cooke • Sandra B. Cook, PhD • S. Allen Counter, PhD, D.M.Sc.* • John Craparo • Lynn D. Danaher • Constance Difede • David A. Dolan, MA, MPH, M.Div. • Mr. & Mrs. James Donovan • Col. William H. Dribben, USA (ret.)* • Amelia Earhart* • Sylvia A. Earle, PhD • Edwin L. Ecclestone Jr. • James M. Edwards, MD • Lee M. Elman* • Alan Feldstein • Michael L. Finn • Robert L. Fisher, PhD • John W. Flint* • Capt. Joel Fogel • Kay Foster • James M. Fowler* • W. Roger Fry* • Max Gallimore • Richard Garriott de Cayeux • Char Glacy • Alfred C. Glassell Jr.* • George W. Gowen* • Randall A. Greene* • Susan Ross Grimaldi • Jean Charles Michel Guite • Les Guthman • Capt. Robert “Rio” Hahn • Penrose Hallowell • Rory Hallowell • Allan C. Hamilton • Scott W. Hamilton • O. Winston “Bud” Hampton, PhD* • Brian P. Hanson • James H. Hardy, MD • Ira Haupt, II* • Judith Heath* • Robert A. Hemm • Gary “Doc” Hermalyn, PhD • Sir Edmund P. Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE* • John A. Hodge • Carlota “Lotsie” Clark Hermann Holton • Christy Holton Hubbard • L. Ron Hubbard* • Charles B. Huestis* • Robert Edgar Hyman • J.P. Morgan Charitable Trust • Robert  M. Jackson,  MD • Theodore  P. Janulis • Linn  E. Johnson • Kenneth Kambis,  PhD • Kenneth  M. Kamler,  MD • Prince Joli Kansil • Lorie M.L. Karnath, MBA, PhD (hon.) • Anthony G. Kehle, III • Anne B. Keiser • Kathryn Kiplinger • Martin Klein • Thomas R. Kuhns, MD • Carl C. Landegger • Leon “Lee” V. Langan • John R. Lawrence • Robert M. Lee* • Michael S. Levin • Florence Lewisohn Trust • J. Roland Lieber • James E. Lockwood Jr.* • Jose Loeb • John H. Loret, PhD, DSc* • Margaret D. Lowman, PhD • Michael Luzich • Daniel J. Lyons • Robert H. Malott* • Leslie Mandel* • Robert E. Maroney • Michele Mass, MD • Robert E. McCarthy* • George E. McCown • Lorus T. Milne, PhD* • James M. Mitchelhill* • Arnold H. Neis • Nancy Nenow • Virginia E. Newell • Walter P. Noonan • Alan H. Nichols • Martin T. Nweeia, D.D.S. • Dr. John W. Olsen • Kathleen Parker • Alese* & Morton Pechter* • Cynthia S. Peters • William E. Phillips* • Ashley Pilipiszyn • David S. Press • Prof. Mabel L. Purkerson, MD • Roland R. Puton • Timothy A. Radke, MD • Dimitri Rebikoff* • Mabel Dorn Reeder* • John T. Reilly, PhD • Adrian Richards, PhD • Bruce E. Rippeteau, PhD • Merle Greene Robertson, PhD* • Otto E. Roethenmund • James Beeland Rogers Jr. • Faanya L. Rose • William J. Roseman • Rudy L. Ruggles Jr. • Gene Rurka • Wayne J. Safro • David J. Saul, PhD* • Willets H. Sawyer, III • A. Harvey Schreter* • Donald L. Segur* • Margaret Segur* • Walter Shropshire Jr., PhD, MDiv. • Richard T. Silver, MD • Robert H.I. Silver* • Theodore M. Siouris • William J. L. Sladen, MD, DPhil* • Susan Deborah Smilow • Capt. David D. Smith, PhD, USNR (ret.) • Mark A. Smith* • Ernest R. Sohns* • Sally A. Spencer* • Allan Streichler* • Ronnie Streichler • Arthur O. Sulzberger* • Vernon F. Taylor, III • Mitchell Terk, MD • Lowell Thomas Jr.* • C. Frederick “Rick” Thompson • James “Buddy” Thompson* • Edward B. Tucker, MBE* • Wendy Tucker • Edmund S. Twining, III • Marc Verstraete Van de Weyer • William F. Vartorella, PhD, C.B.C. • Robert C. Vaughn • Ann Marks Volkwein • Alexander Wallace • Julia M. Wallace • Don Walsh, PhD • Johnny Waters • Leonard A. Weakley Jr. • William G. Wellington, PhD* • James S. Westerman • Robert H. Whitby* • Julius Wile* • Holly Williams • Francis A. Wodal* • Lindley Kirksey Young • Eric Zember • Santo “Sandy” Zicaro * Deceased

THE LEGACY SOCIE T Y COMMIT TEE

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David A. Dolan and David S. Press (Cochairs): Mark Allio; Robert J. Atwater; Alan Feldstein, Esq.; Kay  Foster; Char Glacy; Penrose “Pen” Hallowell; Scott  W. Hamilton; Brian  P. Hanson; Walter  P. Noonan; Mabel  L. Purkerson, MD; Timothy  A. Radke MD; Faanya  L.  Rose; David D. Smith, PhD, USNR (Ret.); Lisa Sonne; and Eric Zember, Esq.

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46 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 212-628-8383 for additional info: [email protected]

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WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? GREAT MOMENTS IN EXPLORATION AS TOLD TO JIM CLASH

Ann Bancroft ANN BANCROFT HAS UNDERTAKEN LIFE-AND-DEATH EXPEDITIONS TO THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC—REACHING BOTH POLES AND SECURING MANY FIRSTS, SOME MILESTONES FOR WOMEN. AND, AT 67, SHE IS NOT DONE. THIS WINTER, SHE PLANS AN EXPEDITION TO NEW ZEALAND WITH NORWEGIAN LIV ARNESEN TO TRAVEL WITH THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE THERE ON BOTH RIVERS AND THE OCEAN, SHARING THEIR ANCESTORS’ STORIES ABOUT CARING FOR THE PLANET, AS WELL AS DISCUSSING CURRENT CHANGES THEY’VE NOTED. WHAT FOLLOWS ARE EDITED EXCERPTS FROM A RECENT CONVERSATION.

JC: You’ve done a lot in the area of polar exploration. What have been your favorite expeditions? AB: My first North Pole expedition launched me onto the public stage and gave me an understanding that I had a responsibility to go beyond my own ambitions moving forward, particularly as a woman. But reaching the South Pole also has its significance as an all-women’s team with absolutely no sponsorship. Ranulph Fiennes commented back in 1992 that perhaps we made history even before we hit the ice, being funded by only a grassroots effort. Crossing Antarctica in 2000–01 with Norwegian Liv Arnesen has its power as well. Each expedition teaches and molds you for the next. JC: How do you handle extreme cold and loneliness for extended periods on your polar expeditions?

AB: Going into extreme cold requires both mental and physical preparation. Dressing right, eating right, and laying out a daily strategy makes it manageable. I actually do not feel lonely on expeditions. It is a choice, and we who do them enjoy the solitude of 100 days or more. JC: What are you afraid of? How do you handle fear? AB: Failure scares me. But I’ve had enough to know it only strengthens you, if you are willing to examine it. Of course, there are moments. Maybe you suddenly see a polar bear, or fall into a crevasse, or the Arctic Ocean opens beneath you as you sleep in your tent. But, then again, your training kicks in and you deal with it! JC: Any funny anecdotes about you being mistaken for the late Anne Bancroft, who played Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate? AB: Growing up in the shadow of the “other” Anne provided lots of opportunity for funny moments. When I was in Los Angeles for a speaking engagement, the [LA] Times picked up the story, putting us together on its back page: “The actress and polar explorer are here to speak.” Anne tore it out and sent it to me with a personal note, which invited backand-forth letters that I treasure to this day. I am in the shadow of a stellar human.

POLAR LEGEND ANN BANCROFT. IMAGE COURTESY BANCROFTARNESENEXPLORE.

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