Dissection causes online furor

A picture gallery showing the dissection of an endangered Marianas fruit bat in a biology class at the Marianas High School six years ago has created furor in cyberspace, with some raising the possibility that a violation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered Species Act may have been committed.

Former MHS science department chair Craig H. Garrison was quick to point out, though, that what the school got were dead bats that were confiscated from illegal poachers. He said he had written to the Division of Fish and Wildlife and acquired a permit to use some dead fruit bats for his biology class.

The website, http://net.saipan.com/personal/mhs/fruitbat.htm, provides a link to the biology laboratory exercise conducted by MHS seniors, which shows at least 21 snapshots of the actual dissection of the bat, Pteropus marianus, locally known as fanihi.

Garrison admitted that he was the one who took the photos of students in his advanced biology class. “But that was taken six years ago,” he added.

Garrison no longer works for MHS and is currently the vice principal for Saipan Southern High School.

The Saipan Tribune had received electronic mail from several sources, including from Guam, questioning the legality of the dissection activity, and raising the possibility that the Endangered Species Act may have been violated.

Garrison explained the facts behind the dissection pictures yesterday when Saipan Tribune tracked down the origin of the photos. He said used a Mavica camera during the session and that he created the website and uploaded the photos for online documentation.

Garrison denied violating the Endangered Species Act, which was already enacted at the time, saying that it was the Division of Fish and Wildlife itself that provided MHS the bats.

The dead bats were confiscated from a fishing boat that came from Anatahan. At that time, Garrison said he also got two DFW-tagged Hawksbill and green turtles for research and study purposes. The turtles, he said, were confiscated from Kinpachi Restaurant.

Garrison said he opted to dissect the fruit bat for his advanced biology class’ anatomy of mammals subject. His students, he said, studied the fruit bat’s heart to determine its four compartments.

He admitted that he should have put a disclaimer on the website to prevent concerns, but said he could not modify the website anymore since he believes somebody might have tampered with its source codes.

The website is no longer connected with MHS since the school has put up a new website, he said.

MHS vice principal Karen Borja was surprised when asked about the laboratory activity depicted in the pictures and denied the timeliness of the photos. She said the tables on the photos are not the same tables their laboratories currently have.

She showed the Saipan Tribune the two biology laboratory rooms and one chemistry laboratory room. The tables and chairs are different from what was shown in the picture. She also said that Garrison used to be a teacher at MHS but is now connected with SHS.

She said the school is very much aware of the Endangered Species Act and that the last laboratory exercise her school had done used the most commonly used lab specimen, the frog.

Under the law, the Marianas fruit bat is listed as a threatened species and it is illegal to hunt the fruit bat anywhere in the CNMI. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formally proposed to list the Marianas fruit bat as a federally listed endangered species.