G. Carleton Ray

During a span of five decades, Carleton Ray has focused activities on cross-disciplinary coastal-marine research and conservation. Early in his career, he recognized the central roles of natural history and interdisciplinary approaches. He has worked widely in polar, temperate, and tropical environments. I have also sought to inform the public about coastal-marine science and conservation. He was the first to initiate scuba-diving in Antarctica for research on polar marine mammals. When a Curator for the New York Aquarium, he initiated work with colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on the thermoregulation and acoustics of marine mammals, and was also among the first, with colleagues, to describe the underwater sounds of marine mammals (seals and walruses) as “song” in a strict behavioral sense. Presently, he is concentrating on teaching as a part of the University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences conservation-science initiative.