The Wilderness Coast: Adventures of a Gulf Coast Naturalist - Hardcover

Jack Rudloe has been a resident of the Florida Panhandle since he was a teenager, and established Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea in 1964. He and his wife Anne, a marine biologist and photographer, have published articles in Audubon, National Geographic, National Wildlife, Natural History, Scientific American and Smithsonian. His work has been the subject of a number of documentaries on public radio and television. In conjunction with his books and environmental conservation activities he has appeared on The Today Show and Good Morning America and has been interviewed on PBS, Fox, and other networks. He is the author of five other nonfiction books and one novel, Potluck. Gulf Specimen marine Laboratories has expanded its activities beyond the collection and sale of marine creatures. In addition to doing biological research and providing consulting services, its premises now also serve as an interactive educational exhibit. The lab is open to the public and is visited by an ever-increasing number of school children as part of their study of our natural world. At any time, between 100 and 200 species of fish and invertebrates are on display in a constantly changing aquatic menagerie that includes touch tanks and informative, illustrated story boards. You may pay a "virtual visit" to the aquarium on the internet by visiting the website at www.gulfspecimen.org. If you are planning to be in the Florida Panhandle and wish to visit the lab in person, please call to arrange a guided tour: (850) 984-5297.

As owner of a biological supply house, Rudloe (The Sea Holds Forth, etc.) makes his living collecting and studying marine organisms in the waters off Florida's Gulf Coast. The ocean and the wetlands of the area, largely unexplored, contain many exotic and beautiful creatures, and the author's adventures there make exciting reading. He gathers electric rays (fish that can deliver strong electric shocks), tracks baby horseshoe crabs, makes friends with octopuses, saves loggerhead turtles from the dredging operations of the Army Corps of Engineers, captures giant toadfish and monster sea roaches for the New York Aquarium, fights alligators and searches for crocodiles. A conservationist, he respects the sea and is captivated by its mysterious inhabitants. He describes in vivid detail a world that few of us will ever experience firsthand. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.