More Than a Mouthful: How Fishes Use Their Mouths
Better biology professors teach us not just to record what we see when we look at the world around us, but to think about…
The Library
The Doctor Will See You Now: Diving Fitness and Medical Examinations
I’m sure that there are places where I’m more ill at ease than in a doctor’s office, but I can’t really think of one….
Living in the Middle of Nowhere: Creatures of the Sand and Rubble
If you watch a group of scuba divers as they begin a dive, you likely will see them enter the water and make a…
Defense Mechanisms: How Marine Creatures Avoid Predation
In the marine world, one of the fundamental challenges for many creatures is to eat and not get eaten. Early on in life most…
Boat Diving Unchartered: Planning a Dive from a Private Boat
They both sensed that something wasn’t right. “From that depth we should have been able to see the boat,” says my friend Lance, a…
Gold of the Tropics: The Banana
In a dripping green jungle somewhere in the tropics, a banana plant shoots up from the moist ground. Laden with fruit, the tall shady…
Spiny, Slipper, Regal and Rock: The Secret Lives of Lobsters
Say the word lobster and you will likely get a variety of reactions ranging from kids who smile from thinking about some of their…
Many Arms, Many Feats: The Cephalopods
Imagine what life might be like if you were a sea creature that could squeeze your body through a hole not much larger than…
Follow the Food Chain: Making Sense of the Chaos on a Coral Reef
I’ve never tired of watching student divers return from their first open-water experience. Their enthusiasm is always contagious, and you couldn’t shut them up…
Underwater Propulsion: A Tale of Tails
After almost every dive someone immediately begins to try to describe a fish they saw. The first questions they are asked in response are…