Window To The Sea: Behind The Scenes At America's Great Public Aquariums

by John Grant, Ray Jones

This exquisite book captures the beauty and adventure of the undersea world and reveals the dramatic work done by marine scientists and other staff at public aquariums. Paralleling a PBS program that will air in the fall of 2005, it offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes at these extremely popular attractions and travels into the field to explore the activities of four of North America's greatest aquariums.
How are abandoned sea otters rescued and rehabilitated? Why is the discovery of a beautiful new jellyfish species a cause for celebration? How are chambered nautiluses and other exotic species cared for and bred in captivity? Presented in an engaging storytelling approach, these and other topics--acquisition of animals, creating exhibits, training, feeding, water maintenance, and ocean conservation--are explored in the pages of this beautiful book.
In addition to more than 300 stunning photos of marine life both at the aquariums and in the ocean, "Window to the Sea features dozens of images from the TV footage of scientists and other aquarium professionals interacting with the animals. An extensive appendix describes sixty public aquariums in North America and includes all pertinent traveler information. This is a wonderful book for fans of PBS travel and nature programming and for young people interested in the life aquatic.
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"Window to the Sea will air on PBS stations nationwide in the fall of 2005.

146 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Grant is the executive producer of the "Window to the Sea" television program seen on PBS. His company, Driftwood Productions, produces travel and history programs for public and cable television, including "Legendary Lighthouses" and "West Point: The First 200 Years," This is his fifth book. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.
Ray Jones is the author or coauthor of numerous books on travel and history, including the bestselling companion to the PBS series "Legendary Lighthouses." He was formerly a writing coach at "Southern Living" magazine and founding editor of "Albuquerque Living "magazine. He lives in Pebble Beach, California.

Reviews

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exciting look at the history of some of the major public aquariums in the US, as well as a demonstration of what's on the cutting edge in terms of large aquariums today. Gorgeous photos throughout, which make up for the sometimes too-basic text. My favorite chapter was on the Wakiki aquarium, which has a huge coral reef exhibit with live corals. I'm fascinated by corals and would love to see more public aquariums propagating corals for their exhibits, rather than using artificial corals.