Famous Marine Biologists

Many marine biologists have contributed to writing and providing more and more information vital to our study of our own world. They have also given us more knowledge about our surroundings by the discovery of many different species of marine life. It is a wonderful world of discovery and adventure, to be in the shoes of marine biologists, and even they aspire to become like some of the marine biologists that came before them.

Probably the most famous of all marine biologists and one of the most world renowned explorers and adventurers was the French researcher Jacque Cousteau. Born Jacques-Yves Cousteau on June 11, 1910, the naval officer, filmmaker, author, and researcher developed the first open-circuit scuba diving equipment. Originally called the “aqua lung”, his contribution to marine studies and research gave way to more understanding of the things that lurk beneath us and eventually more information about our world. Cousteau was also the founder of the Underseas Research Group at Toulon and the French office of Underseas Research at Marseille, as well as the director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.

Carl Chun is another notable marine biologist. Hailing from Germany, he graduated in zoology from the University of Leipzig. Chun would later be appointed as one of the professors in his alma mater. Carl Chun's research centered on cephalopods and plankton, and headed a German deep-sea expedition in 1898. Carl Chun also discovered a species of squid that he named “vampire squid”.

Another famous marine biologist was U.S. marine zoologist Samuel Stillman Berry. A graduate of the University of Stanford in 1909 and M.S. from Harvard the following year, Samuel Berry has written over 200 articles in malacology during his research as an independent researcher. Through his studies, Berry discovered 401 mollusc taxa. His work gives students insight regarding many different types of cephalopods, snails, and chitons, and his research work continues to be used as reference for many marine biologist aspirants up to this day.