A Fascination For Fish by David C Powell
Posted By Claudine Sinnett on 21 June 2001
When I started to read this book I didn't know how I was going to feel about this man who had spent most of his life taking living organisms from the sea for the purpose of enjoyment for human beings. I had always been against taking anything from the sea, and had turned down my own aquarium after my very first scuba experience. To my surprise, I couldn't put this book down, cliché though it may sound. David Powell enlightens you, not only to the underwater world, but also to the time, effort and diligence it takes to re create it.
David Powell was born in 1927 in South Africa and from a very early age he fell in love with fish and wanted the rest of the world to see what he saw in them. He was first inspired by Jacques Cousteau, by watching his films of the underwater world and he says that this was how chose the path he was going to take.
In this autobiography, he tells of his first diving experience, which was solo, with a tank and regulator bought before he had lessons, and how he created an underwater lamp from the simplest of car headlamps and a bucket! We explore the oceans with him, learn as we go of all the species he encountered, how to catch them (with whatever ingenious equipment he chose to make), and their Latin names too!
David takes you to the depths of each of his dives and you almost hold your own breath when he unravels his escapades of catching each species in their own individual way. One particular experience stuck in my mind as he explained when capturing rockfish the way the fish's swim bladder works. It gives the fish neutral buoyancy when at the same depth, but when captured, will inevitably die unless it decompresses when reaching shallower depths. David overcame this hurdle by creating a decompression chamber for the fish made from a home pressure cooker. When this man wanted something, he made sure it was going to happen!
David has encountered many species of fish and has taken extreme care to create the best and safest environments for these different species to live together in the world of the Aquarium. Some of his most fascinating encounters are from capturing sharks, and in particular an experience with a Great White Shark that was taken back to the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco after it had been found by two fishermen. The way David recounts this experience is with compassion and tenderness, which wrenches your heart.
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