Famous Marine Biologists: The sea has been mostly a terra incognitaWhat does Terra Incognita mean?The term Terra incognita originates from Latin, which means unknown or unexplored territory or land. to scientists until the later part of the 19th century. People were using the resources of the sea without really understanding what was going on in its depth.
The previous, 20th century, has seen many inventors and scientists that helped us see behind the curtain of water and has shown us how vulnerable our oceans actually are.
Let us get acquainted with some of them.
Table of Contents
- Sir Charles Wyville Thompson (1830 -1882) / Great Britain (Scotland).
- George Brown Goode โ (1851-1896) โ USA.
- Anton Frederik Bruun (1901-1961) โ Denmark.
- Rachel Carson (1907-1964) โ USA.
- Jacques โ Ives Cousteau (1910-1997) โ France.
- Samuel Stillman Berry (1887-1984) โ USA.
- Henry Bryant Bigelow (1879-1967) โ USA.
- Eugenie Clark (1922-2015) โ USA.
- Sylvia Alice Earle (1930 -) โ USA.
- Malcolm Roy Clarke (1930-2013) โ Great Britain.
- Nicole Dubilier (1952-) โ Germany.
- Hans Heinrich Romulus Hass (1919-2012) โ Austria.
- Nancy Knowlton (1935 -) โ USA.
- Ruth Gates (1962-2018) โ Great Britain/USA.
- Patricia Louise Dudley (1929-2004) โ USA.
15 Famous Marine Biologists
Sir Charles Wyville Thompson (1830 -1882) / Great Britain (Scotland).
His first expeditions took place around the northern coasts of Scotland, and their success has led to launching the famous worldwide expedition on HMS Challenger that he led together with a pioneer oceanographer, Sir John Murray. He is often called the โfather of modern oceanography and Marine biologyโ.
His principal contributions to marine biology were:
- Charles Thompson has discovered more than 4,000 new marine species during his travels and research.
- Thompson was one of the leaders of the HMS Challenger expedition, during which he has plotted ocean currents and temperatures.
- Thompson has also made several other discoveries โ he was the first to describe the mid- Atlantic ridge and Marianic Trench.
- Thompson was also the author of the earliest deep-sea biology textbooks โ โThe depths of the Seaโ.
George Brown Goode โ (1851-1896) โ USA.
- Goode has established collections of multiple species of fish and other marine life, previously unknown.
- Goode has Published several crucial books, including โOceanic Ichthyologyโ, โAmerican Fishesโ, and โThe Fisheries and Fishing Industries of United Statesโ (in 7 volumes).
- Goode contributed significantly to fish research in the USA, organizing multiple expeditions.
Anton Frederik Bruun (1901-1961) โ Denmark.
He has participated in several research expeditions on the ship โDanaโ.
His trips took to many places around the world. He has published papers on systematic and biology of multiple marine species.
He has also participated in various congresses and committees, and later in life, he was elected as a President of International Commission for Oceanography.
His contributions to marine biology include:
- Bruun has published a thesis on flying fishes of the Atlantic.
- Anton Bruun has actively participated in research of deep-sea animals.
- This Danish scientist has contributed to the knowledge on the physiology of several less studied animals, such as a pelagic squid Spirula Spirula, cephalopods of Iceland and a rare marine snail Conus gloria maris.
- Bruun was the leader of the expedition of the โGalatheaโ which studied the coastal waters of West Africa.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964) โ USA.
As a marine scientist, she has worked as a writer and editor for US Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC. She also exposed the damage to the extensive use of pesticides.
Her main contributions to marine biology were in the education of the public:
- Carsonโs books on sea life โ mainly, the โSea around us (1951)โ and โEdge of the Seaโ were focused on the history, geology, and ecosystems of the seas and contributed to the publicโs interest in the subject.
- Rachel Carson was one of the first specialists that described the sea from the ecological point of view and have shown that our seas need protecting.
Jacques โ Ives Cousteau (1910-1997) โ France.
Besides the aqua-lung, Cousteau has also participated in the development of many other tools useful for oceanographic research. After WWII, he has participated in underwater research projects and has also started experimenting with underwater filmmaking.
He has traveled around the world on his famous ship โCalypsoโ, and made several world-famous movies and TV series popularizing marine research. He has also founded the non-profit organization the Cousteau Society, devoted to ocean conservation.
After his death in 1997, his legacy is continued by his son, Jean-Michel Cousteau. Jacques Cousteauโs main contributions to marine biology were:
- Cousteau has participated in the development of aqua-lung and several other inventions that have made scuba diving possible.
- Cousteau has contributed significantly to the popularizing marine and oceanographic research through film and writings.
- Cousteau has also participated in the development of undersea research laboratories Conshelf I, II, II.
Samuel Stillman Berry (1887-1984) โ USA.
He has gathered a considerable collection of mollusks and has written many research publications. His contributions to marine biology were:
- Berryโs doctoral thesis was devoted to Pacific cephalopods and is considered one of the best works on this subject.
- He has named 409 mollusk taxa and has published around 209 publications.
- He was also an editor of his research journal, Leaflets in Malacology.
Henry Bryant Bigelow (1879-1967) โ USA.
He also worked at Harvard for 62 years. In 1930, Bigelow organized the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and became its founding director. He was considered a world expert in coelenterates and elasmobranches.
His main contributions to marine biology were:
- Bigelow was the founding director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
- Bigelow has described multiple species that were new to science at the time, and 101 of them are still recognized today.
- He has published a reference book โ โFishes of the Gulf of Maineโ still remains useful to scientists worldwide.
Eugenie Clark (1922-2015) โ USA.
She has been studying various marine species, but her main research interest was the biology of sharks. Eugenie had dived extensively in the Red Sea at the time when this area was virtually unexplored.
Later, she was also continually giving lectures, dismantling various myths about the sharks.
Her main contributions to marine biology are:
- She has the first person to carry out artificial insemination in fish successfully.
- She has extensively studied shark biology, dismantling various myths about them.
- She has also researched shark behavior, proving, among other things, that sharks can be trained.
- She has discovered a new species โ Red Sea Moses sole, that produces the chemical that scares sharks away.
- Earle has made multiple observations to the life of the Red Sea fish and made several unique discoveries.
- Eugenie Clarke has written several books based on her research, trying to educate the public about life in the sea.
Sylvia Alice Earle (1930 -) โ USA.
Her initial work was dedicated to the algae of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Later, Earle was actively participating in the deep-sea research and was one of the first testers of the deep-sea submersibles.
She has also published several books, the latest, โThe World is Blueโ, was released in 2009.
Her main contributions to marine biology are:
- During her graduate research, Earle has managed to collect more than 20000 samples of algae from the Gulf of Mexico.
- She was a participant of the all-female team of aquanauts during the project called Tektite II, that was aimed at exploring the possibility of living underwater.
- During the Tektite II, Earle has documented first hand the effects of pollution on coral reefs.
- Earle has tested a new type of diving apparatus โ the JIM diving suite โ and has managed to descend 381 meters beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean in the course of the test.
- Together with Graham Hawkes, her third husband, she has developed a new submersible called Deep Rover that can reach up to 941 meters under the ocean surface.
Malcolm Roy Clarke (1930-2013) โ Great Britain.
Then he moved on to join the National Institute of Oceanography, where he began studying oceanic squids. He has also developed an interest in cephalopods โ especially sperm whales.
Later in life, he has settled on Pico Island, Azores archipelago. During this period, he has contributed greatly to studying the marine ecosystem of the region, including whaleโs behavior and buoyancy.
His main contributions to marine biology are:
- He has developed a new approach to studying oceanic ecosystems.
- Clarke conducted extensive research into the diet of sperm whales (which includes squids) and other predatory species of the Azores.
- Clarke has studied the ecology of cephalopods associated with the seamounts.
- Clarke has participated in the development of several wildlife documentaries devoted to the Azores.
Nicole Dubilier (1952-) โ Germany.
She has obtained her diploma in Zoology, biochemistry, and microbiology in 1985 and has obtained a Ph.D in Marine Biology in 1990. Since then, she has devoted her research to the study of symbiotic relationships between bacteria and other organisms.
She is especially interested in the life of the organisms living in low-energy, extreme habitats, such as deep-sea vents. She has made several unique discoveries and received the Leibniz prize for her achievements.
Her main contributions to marine biology at present are:
- She has discovered a unique symbiotic relationship between an oligochaete worm Olavius algarvensis and two different bacterial species that can metabolize sulfur compounds.
- She has studied the bacterial symbionts of the mussels populating the carcasses of whales in the deep sea.
Hans Heinrich Romulus Hass (1919-2012) โ Austria.
During his life, he has considered Cousteau his main rival. He was also an inventor and developed several devices for diving. He has received multiple awards for his work.
Hassโs main contributions to marine biology are:
- Hass was the first to conduct research using novel rebreather equipment.
- Hass has participated in the development of underwater camera.
- Hans Hass has developed other diving tools, such as swim fins and submersibles.
- He has published around 30 books on sea life, some of them featuring underwater photography.
- Films produced by Hass have actively promoted public interest in sea life.
Nancy Knowlton (1935 -) โ USA.
She is also the Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonianโs National Museum of Natural History and a scientific leader of the Census of Marine Life. Her main research focus is the evolution of sea corals and shrimps.
Knowlton has studied the reefs in the Carribean, as well as along the coast of Panama, Jamaica, and Brazil. She is also actively studying marine diversity.
Her main contributions to marine biology are:
- Knowlton has participated in the Census of Marine life and published a book based on her work โ Citizens of the sea.
- Her studies have shown that previous estimates of marine diversity are significantly underestimated.
- She is also an editor at the Smithsonianโs Ocean Portal website, promoting marine conservation and studies.
Ruth Gates (1962-2018) โ Great Britain/USA.
Later, she has worked at the University of California and finally at the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology.
She has devoted her studies to the biology of coral reefs, as well as methods to prevent coral bleaching.
Her main contributions to marine biology are:
- Ruth Gates was actively studying the relationships between corals and their symbiotic algae, trying to understand the mechanisms behind coral bleaching.
- Gates has proven that some sunscreen components contribute to coral bleaching and had them banned in Hawaii.
- She has developed an experiment, during which she has managed to breed corals that were more resistant to stress and bleaching.
- Gates has proven that the resistance to bleaching in corals depends on the type of symbiotic algae they contain.
Patricia Louise Dudley (1929-2004) โ USA.
She was especially interested in copepods that co-existed with ascidians but later has become interested in their relationships with other organisms, such as polychaete worms.
She has taught zoology at the University of Columbia for many years. Her main contributions to marine biology are:
- She was the first to use electron microscopy to study copepod organs and development.
- She has extensively researched commensal relationships between copepods and other animals.
- She has documented various stages of development of copepods and tunicates.
As you can see, there are many different people in this list, from specialists devoting their lives to virtually unknown organisms, to people who devoted their lives to promoting science with the help of all available means.
The main thing that unites all these famous marine biologists is their love for the sea and the creatures that live there.
Cite This Page
Key References
- โThe Challenger Expedition โ Dive & Discoverโ. Accessed July 20, 2019. Link.
- โSir John Murray โ Founder of Oceanographyโ. Accessed July 20, 2019. Link.
- โAnton Frederik Bruunโ. Accessed July 20, 2019. Link.
- โCitizens of the Sea by Nancy Knowlton | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Booksโ. Accessed July 20, 2019. Link.
Nice compilation of marine biologists!