G. CARLETON RAY is Research Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. He has conducted basic and applied research in polar and temperate regions and in the tropics, concentrating on natural history of fishes and marine mammals, biodiversity, and conservation science. He has also been actively engaged in marine conservation policy development and marine protected area establishment nationally and internationally.

JERRY MCCORMICK-RAY is Senior Scientist at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. Her research has focused on marine mammals and marine invertebrates, physiological effects of pollution, and benthic faunal ecology in estuaries and in the Arctic. She has been actively engaged in marine conservation science and its application to policy and protected areas nationally and internationally.

Artist: ROBERT L SMITH JR grew up in West Virginia and studied art and biology at West Virginia University. He resides in Albemarle County Virginia where he illustrates books and takes care of his small-scale poultry farm. Bob has done illustration work for trade and text books, as well as for numerous journals and magazines.