Kate Pennington

Kate Pennington

Humpback whales!

Humpback whales are my gateway drug. The first whale I ever saw in person was a Humpback whale – in 1987 off the coast of Province Town, MA. Then came Star Trek Four – the Search for Spock aka the…

Dr. Sylvia Earle

Dr. Sylvia Earle, a white woman with brown hair, stands inside a white, hard sided dive suite. Dials and tubes can be seen inside, near her head. Two men assist her from outside

Known by many as “Her Deepness”, Dr. Sylvia Earle is still championing the oceans at 89. Her list of accomplishments is long. Among them she holds the record for the deepest untethered dive in a JIM suit (one of the…

Dr. Joan Murrell Owens

Black and white photo of a Black woman with short, curly, dark hair seated at a microscope in a lab. She wears a floral blouse and a long sting of pearls. In her right hand she holds a button coral: a circle of white with faint striation radiating from the center

From a young age Dr. Owens had a deep love of the oceans. Her parents would take her and her two sisters fishing on the weekends and both encouraged their daughters to pursue higher education. Reading about both Jacques Cousteau…

Rachel Carson

Black and white photo of a white woman with short, wavy hair on a rocky beach. She holds a jar filled with water and rocks.

Last year my family and I had the opportunity to attend the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute‘s (MBAR) Open House in Moss Landing, CA. The event was set up beside their research boat The R/V Rachel Carson. I knew the…

Dr. Roger Arliner Young

This month’s Spotlight is one of the first women we know of in modern days to work in marine biology, Dr. Roger Arliner Young. Born in 1899 Dr. Young attended Howard University first as a music student and later taking…

Sealife London Aquarium, 2024

During a family vacation to London in September, I found myself with an afternoon unsupervised so I took myself off to the Aquarium! – because you know if there is one around I’ve got to take a look. Sealife aquarium…

New York Aquarium, 2023

In November of 2022 my father died. In March of 2023 my husband and I flew to New York for the Memorial service and time with my family and several old friends. My chosen treat / reward for this weighty…