Day 3- Our Introduction to SIO

Submitted by Trae Rabago

Today was a very special day in the sense that we became a part of a mere 4% of the nation that was given access to the vertebrate collection held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). When we arrived at SIO, we were greeted by our tour guide, Dan who led us into a room that was home to approximately 6,000 different species of fish, which makes this collection one of the largest in the nation. He showed us some of the most interesting fish they had, ranging from whale sharks, to flying fish, and stonefish, with some eels, and others I’d never heard of before.

Dan explains what each specimen is to the group from the sampling he set up on the table.

Shelves and shelves of specimens collected from as far back as 1912.

Also interesting to me was the technique they use to preserve the fish. Clearing and staining, and then storing in jars of alcohol and water, allow them to keep this large collection of fish. The preserved jars contain 50% water and 50% isopropyl alcohol so that the people at SIO limit their use of more hazardous substances like formalin. Clearing and staining, for those who are unfamiliar with the technique, is where the fish is cleared by putting the organism into ethyl alcohol and letting it soak until it becomes clear and then dying the bones and cartilage with colors to helps distinguish the parts of the fish.

This part of the day exposed me to so many new species I didn’t even know existed and helped me to realize that this is only a small taste of what our ocean has to offer.

-Trae Rabago