Customer Reviews

A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer (Uc Press/Monterey Bay Aquarium Series in Marine Conservation)

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If among the things you have to confess you know nothing about are designing, stocking, and running a public aquarium, you can change that and have a darned good time filling in these particular voids. David C. Powell, who knows more about running aquariums than just about anyone, has written a memoir, _A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer_ (University of California Press) that tells about his unusual career and has more than its share of pleasing anecdotes.

Powell took the first fish he caught as a kid and slept with it under his pillow. He maintained the lobster tank at a fancy Malibu restaurant. When he read Cousteau's first book, _The Silent World_, he knew he had to start diving. As he kept specimens in his home aquarium, he joined the Marine Aquarium Society of Los Angeles. A fellow member told him of a job opening as an aquarist at Marineland of the Pacific; it was just what he wanted to do, and from there he worked at various aquariums, directing the live exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium until retiring four years ago. He now seems to be the most frequently consulted consultant whenever towns or nations want to set up aquariums.

Powell writes with admiration and affection about the creatures he has to capture and then keep in as home-like an environment as possible, including the wonderfully named sarcastic fringehead, the "thumbsplitter" mantis shrimp with its faster-than-the-eye claw, and many more. He tells about the process of capturing samples in many different ways, but diving and capturing fish is the easy part. Transporting them is hard. There are different gadgets and containers that have to be used, including the truck transport named the "Tunabago." It is planning the displays of the fish that obviously has given Powell the most satisfaction in his career. His description, for instance, of the responsibilities of putting up the largest window in the world, a gigantic acrylic pane fifty-five by fifteen feet, thirteen inches thick, and weighing thirty-eight tons, is completely engrossing.

Powell's book, a mixture of autobiography, oceanography, ichthyology, museology, and funny stories, is a delight. In seemingly effortless style, he conveys the excitement even in the minor aspects of his career. He gives a final essay on the importance of aquariums (disdained by Cousteau as "fish prisons") in bringing people closer to nature and in promoting the conservation that could keep the oceans healthy. His book is a worthy summary of a lifetime's effort in that cause.

This was a truly excellent read - if you are interested in how they make those impressive aquarium displays, how they catch the livestock, overcome the challenges of adapting them to aquarium life and lots of stories along the way, this is the book for you from the man widely acknowledged as being "it" when it comes to designing pioneering public aquaria.

Highly recommended for anyone out there fascinated by fish and the marvellous public aquariums around the world. Enjoy it!

David C. Powell provides the reader with an excellent insight into the life experiences of a dedicated biologist. His detailed descriptions and insights of all the efforts that went into sharing his exciting discoveries is a joy to read. For anyone who visits aquariums this is a must read book. It provides rare, behind the scenes, information about the enormous effort and dedication involved in providing public aquarium exhibits. Dave's style has the flavor of Ricketts and Stienbeck all in one.

Anyone who is curious about sea life or the creation and running of aquariums... and for any scuba diver - you should buy and read this book. David Powell clearly descibes how he became interested in fish and how he managed to get into aquarium displays. He even tells about his dating life in college (loved the octopus pet and dozens of aquariums he kept in his little apartment). And it also satiates the need to understand how Monterey Bay Aquarium came about (as well as many other national and worldwide aquariums were designed and started), the work and dedication to making it happen and run smoothly. Next best thing to being there and doing the hands on behind the scenes tour! Well written, good length, excellent read.

First let me say that this is overall a very good book, and for anyone who's interested in the history of fish collecting or in the workings of large aquaria, it's a must-read. As a scientist I collect fish for my own research, and I learned a few really fascinating tricks from this book.

That said, it could have really used a more thorough editor. There are some passages that are extremely repetitious, and the reason for their inclusion isn't clear. He also occasionally swerves off into details about trips that have nothing to do with the main focus of the book, and after ten pages you just end up wondering why on earth that passage is even there. There are also these little side stories that are boxed up and independent from what's going on in the rest of the book, and those were mostly unnecessary and always poorly placed. Many of them could have been inserted into the main narrative or removed entirely, and the book would have been better for it. All told, this is a GOOD 320 page book that could have been an EXCELLENT 250 page book.

Still entirely worth a read, though.

This is my most loved book I have read in my lifetime. If you are fascinated with fish from diving, aquarium keeping, visiting public aquariums, and/or working in the retail fish field, you too will be completely involved and fascinated as you read David Powell's experiences. You live his experiences with him. I especially enjoyed the lab that rounded up sharks. Thank you Mr. Powell so much for writing this book. I have read it 3 times and will again sometime!