THIS 'N THaT
Are Fish and Animals Lunatics?
O
K, somewhere up there, around 239,000 miles away is the
moon, orbiting the earth once every twenty seven and a bit
days. The complete cycle of moon phases that we can see
from the earth takes a couple of days longer. Over the millennia, much
store has been put into the possible effects that the lunar cycle might
have on animal behaviour, and there is no doubt that through the
effects of gravity the moon does indeed influence certain inanimate
physical occurrences on earth such as the flow of the tides. But the
mechanism by which this occurs is no mystery. Simply put, the moon’s
gravitational pull has a greater influence on the surface of the earth
nearest to the moon than do either the earth’s core or the far side of
the earth. Bear in mind that at the same time the moon is revolving
around the earth, the earth is also rotating on its own axis once in a
day - the high tides caused by the pull of the moon’s gravity and the
earth’s gravity against one another will therefore rotate around the
earth - and rise and fall - on a daily basis.
Less easy to explain is how the moon may mysteriously affect
animal or human behaviour, though it has long been credited with
the ability to do so. To primitive cultures, the simple fact that the
appearance of the moon changes throughout the course of a month
is enough of a reason to believe that it is a dynamic force capable of
influencing their own lives; the fact that these changes repeat along
the lines of a predictable cycle implies some form of intelligence.
But in reality, what we have is this big rock orbiting the earth.
It may appear to change, but it does not. So how come certain
phases of the moon, or the year, are supposedly better for fishing
and hunting?
The so-called “solunar theory” was first postulated in 1926 by
John Knight. Knight’s idea was that somehow both the sun (sol) and
the moon (luna) had some effect on the behaviour of fishes. (Before
anyone write