Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals

Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals

David Wrobel has been observing and photographing the splendid diversity of gelatinous animals that visit Monterey Bay since moving to the area in 1984. After receiving his Masters from Duke University in 1981, he decided that west coast marine life was more to his liking. A brief stint at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara exposed him to underwater photography, and he has since had photographs used by numerous magazines and textbooks, and at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He formerly managed the display, culture and acquisition of jellies for the Outer Bay Wing at the Monterey Bay Aquarium which provides continuous exposure to the lives of gelatinous zooplankton, and hopes to make the study of these creatures a life-long endeavor.

Claudia Mills has been studying medusae and ctenophores for 25 years. A native of Washington, she has been a researcher at the Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington since 1977, during which she received her Ph.D. at the University of Victoria in 1982. She is interested in nearly any aspect of the biology of gelatinous zooplankton and has written more than 45 academic papers about planktonic cnidaria and ctenophores. She works mostly on coastal species, but has also studied oceanic and deep-water animals while participating in oceanographic expeditions in a variety of locations worldwide.