A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer

About this book

This engaging memoir presents one mans lifelong love of the ocean and gives a highly personal behind-the-scenes look at Californias 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 Fish describes many of the mind-boggling challenges that make modern aquariums possible and offers an intriguing glimpse beneath the oceans surface. Powells 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 Powells action-packed narrative inspires laughter wonder and philosophical reflection. A Fascination for Fish also includes many stories about Powells diving adventures on the California coast in the Sea of Cortez and in many remote and exotic locations around the world.