Paul Humann, "Coastal Fish Identification: California to Alaska"

Paul Humann took up scuba diving and underwater photography in the early 1960s. Within a few years, several of his fish portraits were featured in Skin Diver magazine’s memorable Fish of the Month series. Paul became one of PADI’s early dive instructors, holding id #2222. In 1972 he left his law practice in his hometown, Wichita Kansas, to pioneer today’s live-aboard diving craze by becoming captain/owner of the M/V Cayman Diver, the Caribbean's first successful live-aboard dive cruiser.
His underwater photographs have appeared in numerous magazines including Skin Diver, Ocean Realm, Sport Diver, Rodale’s Scuba Diving, National Geographic, Audubon, Natural History, National Wildlife, and Ranger Rick. An ABC sports special featured Paul introducing famed Jaws author Peter Benchley to the wondrous marine life of Galapagos. Paul has authored two large-format underwater pictorial books and co-authored, with his long-time partner Ned DeLoach nine marine life field guides including the popular Reef Set trilogy, Reef Fish Identification, Reef Creature Identification, and Reef Coral Identification - Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas.
Paul’s work established visual identification criteria for many marine animals. Long hours of observation, documentation, cataloguing and corresponding with dozens of taxonomic scientists were essential steps in the long process. In many instances picture/voucher specimen collection was required to make positive identifications. As a result, many of his pictures were the first ever published of living species in their natural habitat. The specimens from this work now reside in the Smithsonian’s National History collection. These efforts made it possible for underwater naturalists to make valid non-impact biodiversity assessments of reef ecosystems.
His concern for the welfare of the marine environment led him to co-found with Ned DeLoach, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) in 1990. In 2007 Paul received the 2006 DEMA Reaching Out Award for his lifetime achievement and was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. In 2010, he will be honored with the NOGI award