The cartilaginous fishes; sharks, rays, skates and the weird chimaeras have always fascinated humans; the sharks for over-blown fear of attack (more people are killed every year by falling aircraft tools, pigs, tripping over shoelaces...); all for their grace and beauty. I have personally campaigned for decades, trying to educate people; for their protection in the wild as well as for their careful selection and adequate care by folks who would take the plunge in caring for them in captivity. It is indeed a travesty that tens of millions of sharks are fished for their fins alone; the rest of the animal usually returned as waste to the sea. I have tasted the slimy, tasteless liquid that is shark fin soup... As unacceptable to me is the mis-stocking and inadequate care afforded sharks and rays placed in too small environments; improperly filtered/maintained, and/or mis-fed and lost prematurely. It is my fervent goat to help you avoid these major sources of mortality through this written work.
About the Author: The diversity of life has always fascinated me; but the systematics of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians was blown away by the expansiveness and degree of unknown of the fishes. Few people had "companion animals" overseas, but many friends had bowls and aquariums with goldfish, guppies and other tropicals. I was born in Rhode Island, the smallest State of the U.S. but grew up in the orient as my father was career military. We had very few jobs "on base" for the "dependents" but I was fortunate to secure employment at a fish store that was associated with a restaurant in downtown Sasebo. Other vainglorious work overseas includes two years working for a Betta culture business, collecting and processing marines in Manila. Back to the U.S. in the late sixties I stuck to the trade as a retail clerk, a livestock wholesale worker (for Pratt's in San Diego), and eventually formed an aquarium service business with a school friend. This business cycled larger and smaller, and supported me all through college and beyond. It eventually became an employee-owned corporation with aquaristic retail outlets, fabrication (principally large acrylic systems), water feature construction, manufacturing and distribution divisions. Subsequent to the tax law changes, water-shortage "scare", and general decline in the California and U.S. economy in the late eighties these businesses were sold and liquidated. I worked for three years as a consultant and buyer for the mass-merchandiser PetCo in their bid to upgrade their stores, incorporating livestock. Is there a difference between what you do for money and for a living? Not me. Nowadays I write articles and books for the diving/underwater natural history and ornamental aquatics interests, and manage my rentals and securities. I browse the electronic bulletin boards to "chat" with others daily, and often travel, to go "hashing" (sort of running), writing and photographing with friends around the world.