Studying Species and Indigenous Knowledge

Abstract Throughout the voyage, Adelbert von Chamisso and Johann Eschscholtz became deeply invested in collecting and categorizing species of all sorts. At the same time, these two naturalists engaged in research on how species operated on a more fundamental level. Their discovery of what later scientists called “metagenesis” resulted from their close observations of a small marine organism: salps. Chamisso studied and classified the whales of the North Pacific due to his ongoing conversations with Aleut whale hunters. Kadu also collected species, observed the natural world around him, and made a novel attempt of transplanting coconut palms on the island of Unalaska. All three voyagers would have much to report to their various publics when the expedition was over.