reviews

Biological Time

Reviewed by Scott Richmond

Biological Time, by Bernie Taylor. Published by The Ea Press. 217 pages in a 7 x 10.25 format, black-and-white. $29.95. Copies may be purchased online from the publisher or other sources (google the title and author).

ave you ever been steelheading and wondered if the fish were there? Consider the Yurok Indians of northern California.

The Yurok were great steelhead fishers, but unlike us they pursued this magnificent quarry for food, not sport. Before the 1800s--and perhaps for centuries before that--the tribe would gather yearly on the Klamath River about 35 miles from the ocean and construct a fish weir, or trap that spanned the entire river.

Timing was everything. You don't move the whole tribe many miles, set them to hard work, feed them and house them, and then have them stand around twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the fish to arrive. "Gonna be here any day now" was not something they would want to hear.

Instead, the Yurok shaman would give precise directions not only for the construction of the weir, but also for the timing of the harvest. The weir was only used for ten days, and it needed to collect enough fish to feed the tribe for a year. A mistake could spell the difference between survival and starvation. Yet year after year the Yurok were successful.

How did the Yurok know the steelhead would be in that place and at that time? Anthropologists interviewed tribal elders in the mid-1800s and recorded that the Yurok counted the number of new moons from the winter solstice. At the sixth lunar cycle, they started the process of weir building. Harvest was always during the waning moon, as it decreased in size and the nights were darker.

The Biological Time Hypothesis

Why were the steelhead always on the move at that time and not at other times? And what did the Yurok know then that we are just beginning to understand now?

In Biological Time, Bernie Taylor examines both ancient knowledge and modern science and comes up with some profound answers. "Biological time" is the term Taylor uses to describe, "the natural lifecycles and events of organisms dictated by the presence or absence of light." Biological time, he says, " is a unifying theory, linking the timing of ancient calendars with modern scientific research and historical records that show how the natural world is marching to a drumbeat that we are just now learning how to hear."

Taylor uses modern science to show how animals are affected by light and, more importantly, by changes in light. Longer days vs. shorter days--and the direction of the trend--has a major effect. But sunshine is not the only light animals experience. The lunar cycle also has a major impact. Important trends include: whether the days are getting longer, such as after the winter solstice; whether the days are longer than the nights, such as at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes; and whether the moon is waxing or waning.

Solar/Lunar Interactions

How the solar and lunar cycles of light and darkness interrelate is the crux of biological time. For example, elk give birth during the dark phase of the moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. This lunar time period makes sense because it is harder for predators to find the highly vulnerable newborns when it's dark. If the dark phase occurs early in the year (close to the vernal equinox), the calves will have more time to grow before the fall migration begins. However, if the dark phase falls later, the growing up period will be shorter, and the calves have a lower chance of surviving the fall migration.

Another example is salmonid migration. Taylor examines other biologist's statistics on migrating salmon and steelhead, and shows a strong correlation with the lunar cycle: the fish migrate during the dark phases and gather in schools during the bright ones.

When did the Yurok harvest steelhead? During the moon's dark phase, when they would be assured that a maximum number of steelhead were traveling upriver and would get trapped in their weir.

When did prehistoric hunters looked for deer and elk? During the bright phases of the moon, when the animals gather in herds and the hunters could find the most animals in one place.

With one example after another, Taylor shows how the lunar cycle affects animals and even plants.

The Solar/Lunar Shift

A key factor is how the lunar cycle relates to the solar year. The lunar cycle is 29.5 days, so there are not an even number of lunar cycles within the 365.25-day calendar year. Each new moon is offset from when it occurred (in solar time) the previous year. The cycle repeats only every 19 years.

This solar/lunar shift explains a lot of variation in animal behavior, variation that was previously attributed to "weather" or other conditions.

Where the Ancients Smarter than We Are?

How long have ancient cultures known about the impact of the lunar cycle on their prey and how the solar/lunar shift affected herds and schools of fish? Apparently for a very long time. Taylor shows examples of prehistoric art from the caves of Lascoux and speculates convincingly that marks on the animals--marks previously dismissed as "kill" tallies--show that the ancient hunters knew when in the lunar cycle it was best to hunt for certain animals. The cave art was a means of passing this knowledge from one generation to the next. These paintings are over 15,000 years old.

From Lascoux to Babylon to Northwest Indians, Taylor looks at the wisdom of the ancients and shows how it accurate it was. Because this wisdom was expressed in religious language, moderns dismissed it as mere superstition. But if you cut through the context, you find that indigenous cultures had it right. Their empirical observations jibe with the most recent scientific findings about animal behavior, even though thousands of years separate the two. This is truly the most fascinating facet of Biological Time.

Why would ancient cultures know more about animal behavior than modern man with his deep scientific understanding? One reason is that the ancients had to know it. If they didn't, they starved. If you or I don't catch a steelhead, we might be disappointed. But if the Yurok missed their fish, they died. There's nothing like the prospect of imminent starvation to sharpen one's powers of observation!

Some Implications of Biological Time

Are there modern implications of the biological time hypothesis? Consider this: we barge salmon smolts down the Columbia River and release them in the estuary when it's convenient for humans. If we release them under the full moon, where do they go? Nowhere. They hang around and get eaten by predators, wasting millions of dollars in fish culture.

Consider also the spilling of water through Columbia and Snake river dams to flush out wild smolts in the spring. If smolts migrate primarily in the dark phase of the lunar cycle, then half of that spilled water is wasted. In personal communications, Taylor related to me that the energy savings alone would be over $40 million a year.

Recommendation

Lest you think, "Aha, this is just the old solunar tables revisited," think again. Taylor's theory has nothing to do with solunar tables. It is based on solid scientific data and research, not idle speculation.

Biological Time contains profound insights and extensive implications. Read it and you'll get a new appreciation of fish and animal behavior. You'll also gain a deep respect for the empirical abilities of early man. And you'll know exactly when to plan your next trip to the Kenai (hint: read chapter 6 and its appendixes carefully).

This is a one of the most fascinating books I've read in a long time. If correct, Taylor's theory of biological time is revolutionary. It brings radical new views of both biology and anthropology. I have little doubt that with closer examination many previously unexplained behaviors--both of animals and human cultures--will become clear.

The book is not a difficult or heavy read. The basic material is covered in eight chapters spanning only 116 pages. Each chapter has a summary at the end that recapitulates the main points. The statistical details are contained in 40 pages of appendixes. Taylor is to be commended for keeping his prose clear and his focus on the main points. The book is professional in appearance. It has been carefully copy-edited, so that although it is self-published it is very clean and typo-free.

Fly fishing is an art, but it is also a form of applied biology. Fly anglers have a strong understanding of--and interest in--the environment in which they practice their science and their art. For that reason, I think Westfly users would find Biological Time well worth reading.

Bottom Line: Revolutionary ideas about the behavior of fish and other animals. Reviewer Rating: 5

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 11/02/2004.

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