The Fish Whisperer

Juan Carlos Aguilar came to Catalina Island a few years after finishing high school in San Diego, California. He worked for two summers at the general store in Two Harbors, scooping ice cream among other tasks, then applied for an opening at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center as a housekeeper.

Almost 12 years later, Aguilar is still on the island, still living in Two Harbors and still working at USC Dornsife’s Wrigley Center, but his responsibilities have changed considerably. Today, Aguilar is a certified scientific diver and, since June 2014, a licensed relief captain for the USC vessel Miss Christi.

“I went to San Diego State for a couple years after high school to study marine biology,” Aguilar said. “I came out here and fell in love with the island and didn’t go back. Luckily, I ended up at a marine biology institute and it fit right in with what I loved already.”

Aguilar grew up in San Diego and was a certified diver when he came to Catalina Island to work at the Two Harbors general store. He was certified for open water diving by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors when he was just 15 years old.

“I’ve been in the water my whole life,” he said, adding that after he began working at the Wrigley Center, he became certified for scientific diving.

“We don’t do a lot of it — it’s not an everyday thing; it’s more like every six months,” he said. “But we can help researchers if they’re in need of a diver. More often, though, we’re working on maintenance of the docks and the piers and chains on the moorings. If something breaks or goes awry, we can lash it back together and make it work.”

Aguilar was certified for scientific diving about 10 years ago, and also started volunteering for the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber on the island as a member of the resident crew. He then went on to work as a deckhand on the USC vessels that serve the Wrigley Center, eventually earning enough sea time to qualify for testing for a captain’s license. The USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, housed in USC Dornsife, sent him to San Diego this March for a two-week training course at the Maritime Institute to prepare for the United States Coast Guard test for a 50-ton “near coastal” captain’s license.

“The course is 80 hours — it’s two weeks long, eight hours a day in class,” Aguilar said. “It’s pretty concise and it’s very intense. Class starts at eight in the morning and finishes at five in the afternoon, and you’ve got four hours of homework every night. That’s all you’re doing for two weeks.”

Aguilar took the Coast Guard examination in March and worked on the extensive Coast Guard paperwork for the rest of the spring. “I had the license in my hand in June,” he said. He now plays an important role within the Wrigley Center as relief captain for the Miss Christi as well as a waterfront assistant for the marine lab. His love and understanding of the ocean, combined with his diverse background, also allow him to play a vital role in the Wrigley Institute’s education and outreach programs.

Aguilar comes ashore from time to time to visit family in San Diego, El Centro, California, as well as Mexicali, Baja California. When he has free time on Catalina Island, he spends most of it in the water.

“My main hobby is spear fishing,” he said. “It’s my passion.” Aguilar’s success at fishing is so consistent that he is known to some as “the fish whisperer.”

“Some people think I have a knack for it,” he said. “I just think I’m lucky, but it’s nice to be able to go out and catch your own dinner, and I enjoy sharing it with everybody who lives here.”