Sea Food

A richly illustrated introduction in verse to food chains and food webs in the ocean, written on an upper elementary level. It includes the basic food pyramid "rule of ten", e.g., it takes 200 lobsters to feed 20 octopuses, which will feed 2 sharks. The book is 56 pages (9" x 7" landscape format) and includes four food chain habitats: two in the open ocean, one on a rocky bottom, and one in the cold Antarctic. Scale drawings of familiar objects illustrate the sizes of the marine creatures. The book explains the difference between a food chain and food web. A glossary defines terms such as plankton and algae. The individual color illustrations are all drawn from early (chiefly 19th-century) texts, encyclopedias, and expedition reports.

Charles G. Messing, Ph.D., is a scientist, writer, actor, illustrator, and educator who has been exploring and communicating about the diversity, ecology and history of the natural world for over 45 years.

• Professor of Marine Science at Nova Southeastern University's Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography in Dania Beach, FL.
• Research Associate at both the Smithsonian Institution and at Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
• M.S. and Ph.D. from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami.
• Postdoctoral fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution.
• Research focus: the ecology and evolution of living crinoids (sea lilies and feather stars), and on deep-sea coral reefs and rocky-bottom habitats.
• Has assessed both shallow and deep-water habitats for proposed fuel pipelines, fiber-optic cables, artificial reefs, and beach renourishment.
• First deep-sea submersible dive in 1975 aboard Alvin to a submarine canyon in the Bahamas.
• Led or participated in dozens of research and educational expeditions as far afield as Papua New Guinea and Honduras.
• Spent five days in an undersea laboratory in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Science co-lead aboard NOAA's ship Okeanos Explorer's expedition to the deep Gulf of Mexico.
• Supervised development of online guides to South Florida marine life (sponges, octocorals).
• Wrote and hosted two episodes of "Messing with Nature" video programs (https://www.charlesmessing.com/messing-with-nature-2011).
• Member of The Explorers Club.
• Wrote and performed "My Beard Toward Heaven, a Play of Michelangelo."