odes to the pie-billed grebe
The poc was so interesting that it captured the attention of a prominent American naturalist named Anne LaBastille . She came to Atitlán in the mid 1960s to figure out why the grebe population was in decline .
Shortly after she arrived , she was scanning the lake , looking for the birds , when two scuba-diving snorkelers came out of the water . Each had a big largemouth tied to his belt . She estimated their weights at about 15 pounds .
LaBastille learned that largemouth and smallmouth bass had been introduced to the lake in 1958 and 1960 by a U . S . airline and a local hotel . To say that bass thrived there would be an understatement .
They were packing on the pounds at a rate of two per year or more . Local crabbers and commercial anglers targeting other species reported a precipitous decline in their harvests that began about the time bass were introduced . Most blamed the new fish for devastating the population of baby pocs – gobbling them up faster than the adults could hatch them .
When LaBastille asked about the largest “ lobina negra ” ( black bass ) any of the locals had seen , she was told 25 pounds . The fish had grown from fingerlings to world record size in seven years … maybe less , and LaBastille theorized that young grebes were part of that winning diet .
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER
I had never heard of the giant pied-billed grebe until about a decade ago while working on a book (“ Bass Forever ”) with the great underwater cinematographer Glenn Lau . We were finalizing a chapter about giant bass , and he told me of a trip he made to Atitlán in the ’ 60s .
Birds and bass made it into two of Anne LaBastille ’ s books , “ Assignment : Wildlife ” ( 1980 ) and “ Mama Poc : An Ecologist ’ s Account of the Extinction of a Species ” ( 1990 ). In them she tells a fascinating story of her research and concludes that bass were a major factor in eradicating the species .
One of her most amusing stories concerns a confrontation with the local Minister of Agriculture . In broken Spanish , LaBastille tried to tell him , “ The black bass has ( messed ) up the lake !”
But was the predation all one-way ? After all , grebes ate fish . Surely , they ate bass , right ? Well , maybe not … or at least not enough to save themselves . LaBastille observed several adult grebes attempting to feed small bass to their young , all to no avail . The baby grebes couldn ’ t handle the spiny-rayed fish .
Eventually , LaBastille convinced local authorities to amend some fishing regulations and change agriculture practices as measures to save the poc ’ s forage base and habitat . They screened off a sanctuary for the grebes and poisoned the bass inside . There were even Guatemalan postage stamps dedicated to creating awareness and support for the giant pied-billed grebe .
For a while , it seemed that LaBastille and Guatemalan authorities were making real progress toward saving the poc . A 1965 population count reported just 80 grebes . By 1968 , there were 125 , and by 1973 there were 210 . Things were going in the right direction … for a while .
mother nature takes her final toll
In 1976 , disaster struck Guatemala in the form of a major earthquake – 7.5 on the Richter scale . It killed more than 10,000 people . At Atitlán , the lakebed fractured and much of the water drained out , destroying most of the grebe ’ s habitat , including the sanctuary . Four years later , only 32 of the birds were left .
Authorities tried relocating some grebes to another lake , including a pair of mating adults . Two eggs were laid . One hatched . For a few days , the parents were seen leading the little chick out onto the lake , but then the chick disappeared . Authorities believe a largemouth bass ate it .
In 1985 , only 56 adult pocs were counted . The writing was on the wall . Four years later , there were two .
“ Endlings ” are what biologists call the last of a species . To see them must be a profound event . Ultimately , the giant pied-billed grebe could not withstand loss of habitat , an earthquake , and the largemouth bass .
And the bass of Lago de Atitlán – what happened to them and why is the lake not a favored destination of every record chaser ? Well , the bass suffered loss of habitat , too , and commercial fishing took a serious toll , but as of the 1990s , there were still bass in Lago de Atitlán , including some big ones .
Likely , there always will be .
DECEMBER-JANUARY 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 27