39
to Kwajalein to get on the MAC fl ight to Eniwetok (apparently the VIP got off in
Kwajalein).
The Air Micronesia fl ight was quite interesting. We were told before takeoff that
this was a unique Boeing 737 that had a special underbody so that the coral runways
would not throw up material and damage the plane. The plane carried a spare engine
and a mechanic to change engines if needed. Photos out of the plane were forbidden. The fi rst stop was the island of Midway (of World War II fame) where we were
ushered off the plane between lines of heavily armed guards and put into a waiting
area until the plane refueled. We were then ushered back and fl ew to Kwajalein
where we were again taken to a secure site. Trouble was that our Air Micronesia
fl ight was late and the fl ight to Eniwetok was about to take off without us. However,
Al Tester decided that he was going to change the schedule and, as we recall, he
stood in front of the plane to keep it from moving until we were on board.
We arrived at the base in Eniwetok, on an island given the name of “Fred” by the
military.
3 We recall that we were in an air-conditioned dormitory that was quite nice.
Food for the fi rst part of each week was abundant and great, but by the end of the
week, fi ve or six days after the one weekly fl ight, the food got pretty boring and
repetitive. And then the next plane arrived and food got great again. The island also
had a bar (25 cents/drink) and movies every night. Trouble with the movies was that
they were on fi lm and sent from island to island in the South Pacifi c sequentially.
And after the fi rst few stops, all the sections that had any hint of sex were cut out
and, rumor had it, compiled into fi lms of only sexy scenes; we never saw those!
Fred also had a lab, part of which was just a shed and part was air-conditioned
(keep in mind that Fred was 4° north of the equator and we were there in summer,
so the humidity was 100 % and the temperature over 100 °F most of the time). There
was also a nice outdoor aquarium facility with running sea water.
Our plan was to get small sharks and stimulate various parts of the head with a
vibrator to test the hypothesis that Al and Jim had proposed that hearing was through
the dorsal endolymphatic fossa that led directly into the ear (Tester et al. 1972 ). So,
the fi rst job we had was to get sharks! We fi gured this would be easy (and Al assured
us it would be) because sharks abound in the Eniwetok Atoll.
Trouble is, the sharks may have known we were there and catching animals
turned out to be a daunting task! We fi shed and fi shed and got nothing until after a
few days of trying, we caught a female white-tipped shark. We took her back to the
lab late in the morning, and she was clearly in bad shape. In fact, Al pronounced her
dead just before lunch, and, dejected, we went to eat (food was still good early in the
week). We returned to the lab and Al noticed that the sides of the shark were moving. He realized that she was pregnant (remember, many sharks are live bearers) and
quickly set to work to do a cesarean section on the shark. He was successful and
delivered 9 or 10 shark pups. This was an exciting event, but we had to get them
3 Each island, despite having a name given by the Marshall Islanders, was given a name by some
U.S. government agency. Thus, Eniwetok Island was Fred and Runit Island was called Yvonne.
See http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/eniwetok_and_johnsonatolls/117.
pdf .
It Started in Hawai’i Kai: Reminiscences of 43 Years (and Counting)…
to Kwajalein to get on the MAC fl ight to Eniwetok (apparently the VIP got off in
Kwajalein).
The Air Micronesia fl ight was quite interesting. We were told before takeoff that
this was a unique Boeing 737 that had a special underbody so that the coral runways
would not throw up material and damage the plane. The plane carried a spare engine
and a mechanic to change engines if needed. Photos out of the plane were forbidden. The fi rst stop was the island of Midway (of World War II fame) where we were
ushered off the plane between lines of heavily armed guards and put into a waiting
area until the plane refueled. We were then ushered back and fl ew to Kwajalein
where we were again taken to a secure site. Trouble was that our Air Micronesia
fl ight was late and the fl ight to Eniwetok was about to take off without us. However,
Al Tester decided that he was going to change the schedule and, as we recall, he
stood in front of the plane to keep it from moving until we were on board.
We arrived at the base in Eniwetok, on an island given the name of “Fred” by the
military.
3 We recall that we were in an air-conditioned dormitory that was quite nice.
Food for the fi rst part of each week was abundant and great, but by the end of the
week, fi ve or six days after the one weekly fl ight, the food got pretty boring and
repetitive. And then the next plane arrived and food got great again. The island also
had a bar (25 cents/drink) and movies every night. Trouble with the movies was that
they were on fi lm and sent from island to island in the South Pacifi c sequentially.
And after the fi rst few stops, all the sections that had any hint of sex were cut out
and, rumor had it, compiled into fi lms of only sexy scenes; we never saw those!
Fred also had a lab, part of which was just a shed and part was air-conditioned
(keep in mind that Fred was 4° north of the equator and we were there in summer,
so the humidity was 100 % and the temperature over 100 °F most of the time). There
was also a nice outdoor aquarium facility with running sea water.
Our plan was to get small sharks and stimulate various parts of the head with a
vibrator to test the hypothesis that Al and Jim had proposed that hearing was through
the dorsal endolymphatic fossa that led directly into the ear (Tester et al. 1972 ). So,
the fi rst job we had was to get sharks! We fi gured this would be easy (and Al assured
us it would be) because sharks abound in the Eniwetok Atoll.
Trouble is, the sharks may have known we were there and catching animals
turned out to be a daunting task! We fi shed and fi shed and got nothing until after a
few days of trying, we caught a female white-tipped shark. We took her back to the
lab late in the morning, and she was clearly in bad shape. In fact, Al pronounced her
dead just before lunch, and, dejected, we went to eat (food was still good early in the
week). We returned to the lab and Al noticed that the sides of the shark were moving. He realized that she was pregnant (remember, many sharks are live bearers) and
quickly set to work to do a cesarean section on the shark. He was successful and
delivered 9 or 10 shark pups. This was an exciting event, but we had to get them
3 Each island, despite having a name given by the Marshall Islanders, was given a name by some
U.S. government agency. Thus, Eniwetok Island was Fred and Runit Island was called Yvonne.
See http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/eniwetok_and_johnsonatolls/117.
pdf .
It Started in Hawai’i Kai: Reminiscences of 43 Years (and Counting)…