Underwater to Get Out of the Rain

Finished June 3

Underwater to Get Out of The Rain: A Love Affair with the Sea by Trevor Norton

This memoir covers Norton's life as a marine biologist, particularly his site research, as well as the history of marine biology as a whole as he looks back at his predecessors and talks about the young researchers he has worked with. Norton was born in the U.K. and did most of his work while affiliated with universities there. His work studying ocean life necessitated travelling to many places around the world and diving into the water to explore and observe. He obviously loves his job, in particular the variety of creatures he has seen and their behaviour. 

I loved learning about this part of science, and finding out about so many creatures that I wasn't familiar with. He made no secret of the some the dangers inherent in diving, including ones in specific locales. He talks about the health of the ecosystems, how politics and economics have their effect, and about local feelings about research, tourism, and other ocean related activities. 

Norton's writing flows and this book was an entertaining read, with humour in spots. 

There are also small drawing scattered throughout the book, which add to the context of the writing, and they are done by the author's wife, Win Norton.