Fish Fiasco at the Lab

[Peter Stahl]

In 1986, one morning driving through the lab I looked out at the water and saw this odd, shimmer blanketing the harbor. I glanced closer and realized that millions of dead bunkers were lying side by side, head to tail and two feet deep across the entire harbor. No one had ever seen such a sight nor smelled such an odor. Using a machine similar to a vacuum, the fish were sucked up by the Nassau Dept of Public Works and when the vacuum truck was full, it was dumped on the driveway area by Delbruck. It then went back to suck up another load of fish. In the meantime, a payloader scooped the fish from the driveway and into dump trucks. Fish oil and fish bits were everywhere. Actually, a meeting was in session at the time. Those who had never been to the lab before, had an unfortunate first impression. They could not believe the stench! As if this were not enough, at the end of the meeting banquet they served lobster tails.



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