A while back I was involved in some cavefish work, and asked a researcher at
the Bishop Museum in Hawaii who does a LOT of collecting if he used slurp
guns... he responded that few serious ichthyologists did, and that small
nets are much more effective.
That said, one January a couple of years ago I spent two hours on a river in
eastern Tennessee bobbing around in a drysuit trying to dipnet tangerine
darters. I had forgotten my weight belt, and could not submerge without
incredible effort, even after purging all of the air out of the suit. My
antics attracted a small group of 4 or 5 darters who were really
inquisitive- they'd swim up to get a closer look, I'd dive down, swipe with
the net, and they'd zip right out of the way as I shot back to the surface.
I finally resorted to grabbing a big boulder and balancing it on my stomach
like a sea otter, sinking down to the bottom, and then swiping with the net
in one hand as they came in to laugh at me. Even as distracted as they were,
they still got the better of me. I don't think I've ever been as
frustrated in my life (well, on second thought, there once was this girl...)
cheers,
Dave
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