PREFACE 



bound, a diver at a depth of 100 feet, who suddenly finds himself 

 surrounded by a hungry-looking school of sharks, soon becomes 

 more interested in facts than in fantasy. The bluff of being big and 

 tough wears mighty thin when you mistakenly place your hand into 

 the gaping mouth of a toothy moray eel. Human death-times for 

 even some of the "toughies" reads three to eight minutes, when 

 stung by the deadly sea wasp ! However, it is not the purpose of 

 this manual to throw needless scares into the skin diving populace, 

 but rather to point out some known facts regarding dangerous 

 marine organisms, and to show what to do about the situation, if 

 worse comes to worse. This is a facet of medicine where the old 

 adage of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" 

 certainly holds true. 



This present volume is an outgrowth of some fourteen years of 

 medical research on dangerous marine organisms, particularly 

 those which are poisonous and venomous to man. The bulk of this 

 research has been conducted for the Armed Forces of the United 

 States, and has been published in technical journals with limited 

 distribution. A comprehensive treatise on toxic marine organisms will 

 be published in the near future, entitled "Poisonous and Venomous 

 Marine Animals of the World", and will provide full documentation 

 for the individual who is interested in the scientific aspects of this 

 subject. Although personal field research in many of the tropical 

 seas of the world has increased my appreciation of the problem of 

 dangerous marine animals, and has pointed out the need for the 

 present volume, this work is by no means limited to the experience 

 of a single person, but rather, is based on the medical histories of 

 literally thousands of individuals over a period of several hundred 

 years. 



The purpose of this volume is to provide persons, encountering 

 dangerous marine animals, with a ready source of information re- 

 garding the identification, geographical distribution, habits, and 

 noxious characteristics of these animals. Sufficient data have been 

 included to be of value to the first-aid worker and to the physician, 

 alike. Technical discussions regarding the chemistry and pharma- 

 cology of these poisons, most of which are unknown, have been 

 purposely eliminated. Every effort has been made to keep unneces- 

 sary technical details to a minimum, in order to be of practical 

 value to the layman. If this little volume can contribute in a small 

 way to the health and happiness of those working with marine 

 organisms in their native habitats, it will have fulfilled its mission. 



Bruce W. Halstead 



