A Fish Called Obama | Sea of Hope: America's Underwater Treasures

2m read

·Nov 11, 2024

We were up at Cure, which is at the, uh, farthest island out in the chain. We were down at 300 feet in an area where we've documented every single fish. On this reef is a species known only from the Hawaiian Islands. It's truly the most unique set of fish on Earth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash. It was a little pink fish, and there are lots of little pink fish down there, so that didn't get my attention. What got my attention was, on the dorsal fin of this fish, there's a spot—a big red spot with a blue ring around it. I thought no fish I know of has this color.

Very quickly, we determined it was a brand new species. The most distinctive feature about this fish was that spot on its dorsal fin—a big red spot with a blue ring around it—which reminded me of a certain logo of a presidential candidate.

"Hope spot."

"That's exactly right. This fish is special because it's the only fish we know of that lives only in the monument. So, a monumental fish."

"It's a monumental fish. It's a monumental discovery."

We have decided that we're going to name this fish in honor of President Obama.

"Toid Obama."

"That's exactly right. I have a favor to ask, Sylvia. Tomorrow, you're going to be meeting the President of the United States here at Midway. I need to ask for his essentially permission for us to name it in his honor. I'm sure he'll accept, but I just, before we do that, I want to make sure he's a willing participant in this."

"It will be my honor to, uh, be an ambassador for you and for Tosanoides Obama. I hope that is the way it works out."

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A Fish Called Obama | Sea of Hope: America's Underwater Treasures

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