A Fascination for Fish

by Powell, David C.; Earle, Sylvia A.

• ISBN13: 9780520223660
• ISBN10: 0520223667
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

This engaging memoir presents one man's lifelong love of the ocean and gives a highly personal, behind-the-scenes look at California's magnificent and innovative aquariums. David Powell, for many years curator of the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, tells the story of his life as a pioneering aquarist. From handling great white sharks to transporting delicate fish on bumpy airplanes to night diving for fish in the Indian Ocean,A Fascination for Fishdescribes many of the mind-boggling challenges that make modern aquariums possible and offers an intriguing glimpse beneath the ocean's surface. Powell's career in diving and aquarium development goes back to the beginning of modern methods in both areas. From the early techniques he devised to get fish into aquariums alive and healthy to his later exploratory dive to a depth of eleven hundred feet in a two-person submarine, Powell's action-packed narrative inspires laughter, wonder, and philosophical reflection.A Fascination for Fishalso includes many stories about Powell's diving adventures on the California coast, in the Sea of Cortez, and in many remote and exotic locations around the world.

Author Biography

David C. Powell was Director of Live Exhibit Development at the Monterey Bay Aquarium until his retirement in 1997.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Sylvia A. Earle
Acknowledgments	xv
Underwater Thoughts	1	(14)
Marineland of the Pacific	15	(13)
A First Look at Realism	28	(14)
The Road to Gonzaga Bay	42	(6)
The Steinhart Aquarium	48	(6)
San Francisco and the Sea of Cortez	54	(12)
Sea World and South	66	(21)
Carnival in Mazatlan	87	(16)
The Lure of Sharks	103	(22)
Tanner Bank and Mexico Expo	125	(6)
The Revillagigedo Islands	131	(15)
Roundabout to Steinhart Aquarium	146	(17)
Search for a Living Fossil	163	(12)
To Chile, Easter Island, and Rarotonga	175	(9)
Monterey Bay Aquarium	184	(7)
Creating the Exhibits	191	(14)
Aquarists at Work	205	(11)
Collecting the Fish	216	(22)
Always Something New	238	(12)
The Open Ocean	250	(19)
Pelagic Fishes	269	(15)
A Million-Gallon Fishbowl	284	(19)
A New Direction	303	(20)
Selected Reading	323	(2)
Index	325