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• 1 media/Ritter__Strauch_Friedo_Floreana_Galpagos_1932__copy_1_front.jpg 2020-04-23T11:35:36-07:00 Velero Research Trips 42 plain 2020-05-01T10:51:41-07:00 Allan Hancock, under the auspices of his newly established Foundation, began sponsoring, and participating in, a series of research trips to study coastal and marine life along the Pacific coast. These trips were conducted aboard Hancock's personal yachts, the Veleros II and III, and the Velero IV (built specifically for scientific research), all of which he captained.
  
  Hancock staffed these expeditions with USC scientists and students, as well as photographers and musicians; the latter were given roles like "field collector" or "assistant photographer", but their main role was to accompany Hancock in musical performances during the cruises.
  
  The final destination of the earliest trips, in the 1930s, was the Galapagos Islands, where Hancock encountered a group of German expatriates. He became entangled in a series of murders that occurred on the islands involving the Germans, and ended up "rescuing" the companion of one of them. 
  
  But the primary purpose of these trips was to study the flora and fauna of the Pacific coast, and the photographers included on every trip documented in great detail the scientists at work collecting and examining data and specimens.