All Hail the Pacific Sardine, an Indomitable but Threatened Fish

Like Californians, These Little Fish Stick Together in a World That’s Out of Their Control

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, most people want to watch the sharks circle in the tanks. Or they check out spectacular octopi. Or maybe they stand outside on the decks and look for sea lions in the bay.

But I find myself staring, mesmerized, by a smaller and less glamorous fish: the Pacific sardine.

What draws me to a fish best known for being stuffed into cans?

It’s not only the way the silver-colored sardines shimmer in the water.

It’s more than the mystery—still not fully understood by scientists—of how they interact as …