[Coral-List] Jack Randall memories

Michael J. Gawel mgawel at guam.net
Tue May 19 02:45:13 UTC 2020


 Coral List Manager,
 Will you please post my belated recognition of Jack Randall, copied
below.
 Thank you,

 Mike Gawel, coral reef biologist and environmental planner in Guam, one
of many mentored by Jack Randall and his long time friend.
mgawel at guam.net


JACK RANDALL MEMORIES
Our family and many friends express our condolences to wife Helen,
daughter Lori, son Rodney and Jack Randall’s family over his passing.

Just as so many who have benefited from Jack’s work and influence I must
join in, to honor him and share some personal memories. I was extremely
fortunate to have many fish collection dives and learning experiences with
Jack in Fiji and the Philippines from 1971 to 1981. I was impressed that
he was so brilliant, scientifically productive, inspirational and
supportive.

For those who have inter-acted with Jack, often in widespread, remote and
exotic sites, you may wonder what he described to me as his best dive. If
you can read this lengthy note, I’d like to maintain your attention to
read to the end where I will identify what Jack told me was his best dive.

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer at the University of the South Pacific
(USP) researching, writing fish identification materials, teaching and
collecting fishes for the University’s depository, Jack had me support him
in his collecting efforts including rotenone stations (this was an
accepted method 50 years ago).

At one Fiji rotenone station a few meters deep we found a large moray eel
showing effects but still active. Jack signed me to go back to our nearby
boat and quickly bring him a large 3-pronged pole spear to use to safely
collect the eel. When I returned with the spear I saw no sign of the eel.
Later after completing collection of every fish we could find and not
leaving any, Jack explained that while I was getting the spear a large
shark had shown up and eaten the eel!

At another Fiji site (Makaluva) on the slopes of a barrier reef channel we
were seeking specimens to spear. I believe we were about 10 meters deep
when a scary bull shark came to investigate us. For defense Jack responded
by unscrewing the point and barb from his spear which was loaded in his
spear gun and replacing it screwing on a powerhead with explosive shell
that he carried up his wetsuit sleeve. But just then we saw an Epinephelus
coeruleopunctatus, which Jack needed to collect and photograph. So Jack
traded his powerhead back for the spear point and quickly speared the
grouper while the shark was still circling. I was shocked and sped to the
surface and to our boat and fortunately Jack followed unharmed and with
his prized specimen.

Later Jack told me how his friend Rhett McNair had perfected development
of power heads and practiced their use bull-fighter style. Jack also
talked about using black and white banded wetsuits to possibly discourage
sharks.

We also discussed ciguatera, which led me a decade later to work on
ciguatera bioassay tests with mice (at USP) and mosquitos (in Tahiti) and
finally helping the poke-stick test development at the University of
Hawaii. Jack had suggested that he had tried his own instant in-the-field
bioassay by taking slime off the back of a fish suspected to have
ciguatera and rubbing it on his gums above his front teeth. If he felt a
tingling the fish was probably very toxic.

In another story Jack explained how he discovered that the soapfish gives
off an irritating toxin from its skin. He had speared one soapfish and
lacked a stringer or collection bag, so he stuffed it inside his swim
trunks. That’s learning the hard way.

When I was with Jack in those days he had the main goal of authoring a
book with color photos of all the reef fishes of South Pacific Islands. He
said he couldn’t get it printed without the support of two millionaires
(one alone wouldn’t be able to handle the costs). He finally did get that
excellent volume published in 2005.
Although Jack was interested in having me do a thesis on fish taxonomy at
the University of Hawaii and had me check specimens by visiting the
Smithsonian, the Field Museum, the California Academy, and his Bishop
Museum, he noted that spending years as a student at the University of
Hawaii (UH) might neglect the knowledge and experience I had developed
with the high diversity of fishes in Fiji (e.g., I was able to discover,
describe {with Dave Woodland} and name Siganus uspi and compiled a
teaching tool of a dichotomous key to Fiji’s 140 fish families). Jack
suggested that I check the new graduate program at the University of Guam
which would place me in an area of high species diversity and
opportunities of learning coral and marine plant species from experts and
finding new species. In retrospect, Jack was the major influence for my
move to Guam for graduate studies and my career based in Micronesia
dealing with coral reefs.

However, I did later study at UH in the 1980’s but for a planning degree
with a thesis on Marine Resources Planning for Pacific Islands. During
that academic period I managed to dive in the Philippines with Jack and
collected fish at Dumaguete and with John McCosker at Mactan (where we
almost lost Kent E. Carpenter deep in a cave searching for flashlight
fish).

I have kept in touch since and my last email from Jack was late in 2019
confirming our belief that Siganus uspi is endemic to Fiji. But I have not
dived with Jack for almost 40 years now. Some of our remote interactions
since then included identifying a Cirrhilabrus species I had caught and
kept in my home aquarium in Pohnpei while I was Chief of Marine Resources
for the Federated States of Micronesia. In those days before computers and
email I described it in a letter to Jack and he asked for a photo. That
involved taking the photo, having film sent to the US for development,
getting photos back to Pohnpei then mailing them to Jack in Hawaii. Ever
helpful, Jack replied that no wonder I couldn’t identify the species
because it was undescribed and he had also seen it from Kwajalein.

Finally I’ll mention that we were culturing a species of local rabbit fish
at the Guam Aquaculture Center, thinking it was Siganus vermiculatus. But
on closer inspection we saw differences and this led to its being named a
new species Siganus randalli after Jack.

Back in the 1970’s when we were relaxing between fish collecting efforts
(probably over Fiji Bitters) and while Jack told stories of his years of
unique and amazing experiences, I asked him what his best dive had been.
He thought a few seconds and then described how he did a full twisting one
and one half dive off the 3 meter spring-board when he competed on the
swimming and diving team at UCLA!

I have dreamt that Heaven would be a place offering endless discoveries of
new species. I pray that Jack is realizing and enjoying that.
Mike Gawel














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