Today’s article is a part of a special collection, known as the Marine Hall Of Fame. Recently we have decided to publish the collection as the Marine Biological Hall Of Distinction. It is the exact same collection, however it is just under a separate name. In this special collection we will discuss marine biologists who we feel have served marine biology & oceanography the most. We do this in order to commemorate these marine biologists & to show gratitude for everything they have contributed to our oceans. This collection has no relation to the main months series. This series publishes on the 25th of every month, shortly after our article on the oceanic environment of a certain region on the 20th. Today’s Marine Biologist, is Eugenie Clark, best known as The Shark Lady. She is best known for her study of shark species, & her pioneering research in the Scuba Diving field. She was one of the first ichthyologists of her time, as well as one of the first people to promote conservation of marine ecosystems. She popularized the study of ichthyology, & popularized the image of sharks. In this article we will discuss Clark’s Early Life & Education, Clark’s Later Life & Career, & Finally Clark’s Awards, Honours, Achievements, & Accomplishments. With that being said let us delve into the life of Eugenie Clark.
Eugenie Clark’s Early Life & Education
Eugenie Clark was born on May 4th of 1922, in New York City, New York. When she was young, she was often taken to the New York Aquarium, which she says inspired her passion for ichthyology. Not only this, but she learned to swim at age 2, which made her more curious about oceanic life. Additionally, she is of Japanese descent, & the ocean plays a significant role in Japanese culture. It is unknown whether or not this impacted her interest in any particular way. Unfortunately, her father died before she reached aged 2. Afterwards, her mother remarried a Japanese restaurant owner. She got her elementary education from a local school in Woodside, Queens, & got her secondary education from William Cullen Bryant High School, also in Queens. William Cullen Bryant High School is located at 48-10 31st Avenue, Astoria, New York, 11103. Clark has also mentioned that she was greatly inspired by the works of Charles William Beebe, a researcher of marine biology.
Eugenie Clark’s Later Life & Career
Determined to study marine life, Clark worked to pay her way through university. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in 1942, studying the puffing mechanics of blowfish. After this, she applied to the graduate program at Columbia University, but she was rejected by the department chairman as they were concerned that she would leave her career in science to have a family. After this, she applied at New York University, where she would earn her Masters Degree from New York University in 1946. While attending New York University, she worked as a chemist for a plastics company to earn extra income. The same year that she graduated from Hunter College, she would marry her first husband Jideo Umaki. She would remain married to him until 1947 when they would get divorced. After going on a graduate research trip in the southern pacific, she became employed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1946. At this institution she learned how to scuba dive properly, which would greatly benefit her throughout her career. She would remain employed here until 1947, when she was asked by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to study the sea life of a certain area of the Philippines. Unfortunately, due to her being of Japanese descent, she was detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation & could not go. After this in 1948, she worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Then after leaving her job at Woods Hole in 1948, she became a staff member at the American Museum Of Natural History, New York, where she would work until 1966. In the year of 1949 she would be asked by the Office of Naval Research to collect & identify certain poisonous species of fish in the South Seas. It was here she learned how to free dive, an important skill that would be useful later on in her life. In 1950, she would marry her second husband Ilias Themistokles Konstantinu, to who she would remain married until 1967. Also in 1950, she would earn her doctorate in zoology studying swordtails, which just so happened to be the fish she kept in her home aquariums in her adolescence. In 1951, she conducted research in the Red Sea from the Al-Ghardaqah Marine Biological Station located in Egypt. She earned her Doctoral Degree in 1950 from New York University from her research on the subject of live bearing reproduction in the platy fish & swordfish. She was also the first person to conduct artificial insemination experiments on fish that were successful. In 1953, she wrote her first memoir called “Lady With The Spear”. In the year 1955, using funding from William H. Vanderbilt, she founded the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in Placida, Florida. This laboratory, was first only founded in a single room. She founded it with an assistant, who was a fisherman. This lab went on to have six campuses, 24 research programs, & 200 staff on all 7 continents in the modern day. It was later moved to Siesta Key in 1960, & Sarasota in 1967. Also in 1967, she married her third husband Chandler Brossand, who she would remain married to until 1969 when they would divorce. In that same year of 1967, the laboratory was renamed “Mote Marine Labratory”. In the year 1955, a cancer researcher asked Clark to capture some sharks so their livers could be studied, which led to the creation of a pen for live sharks in the lab. In 1958, Clark conducted various research studies in order to see if sharks could be trained, as well as how intelligent they were. While conducting these experiments, she taught lemon sharks & a few other species how to push buttons for food. This destroyed the stereotype that sharks lacked intelligence. Henceforth, Clark would advocate for conservation of sharks, & would work to dispel the notion that sharks are dangerous animals. She would go on to become a faculty member of the University Of Maryland in 1968. In 1970, she would marry her fourth husband Igor Klatzo, who she would divorce that same year. She became a full professor at the University of Maryland in the year 1973, then became professor emeritus in 1992. Soon after becoming a faculty member, she wrote her second memoir “The Lady & The Sharks” in 1969. Clark would continue to make frequent expeditions to the Red Sea, & various other places even after becoming emeritus. It is on these trips that she discovered the Trichonotus nikii which is a species of sand diving fish found in the Red Sea. She named it after her son, Nikolas. She would also discover the Pardachirus marmoratus or the “Red Sea Moses Sole”, which produces a natural repellent of sharks. In 1991, she would co-author the children’s book “The Desert beneath the Sea”, this book would mainly entail her adventures along the sandy sea floor of the Red Sea. She married her fifth husband Henry Yoshinobu Kon in 1997, to whom she would remain married until his suicide in the year 2000. She fully retired from teaching in any capacity in 1999. She returned back to the laboratory she had built in 2000 as a Senior Scientist & Director Emerita, & later went on to become a trustee. Clark would often contribute columns & articles to the National Geographic magazine. Along with all this, Clark is widely credited with discovering the fact that certain sharks don’t need to swim to breathe. Clark would go on to take her last dive in 2014. She passed away on February 15th of 2015, due to complications with lung cancer at the age of 92. At the time of her death, her latest research was still in review for publish. She was survived by her 4 children Hera Papakonstantinou, Aya Papakonstantinou, Themistokles Alexander Papakonstantinou, & Nikolas Masatomo Papakonstantinou.
Eugenie Clark’s Awards, Honourables, Achievements, & Accomplishments
1. Clark conducted over 200 field research missions over the course of her career.
2. She authored a staggering total of 175 scientific articles.
3. She was the recipient of 3 Doctoral Degrees in Science from various institutions.
4. She won the Gold Medal Award of the Society of Women Geographers.
5. She also won the President's Medal of the University of Maryland, where she worked for many years.
6. She conducted a total of 72 dives for research purposes over the course of her life.
7. She authored a total of 3 books, & was the subject of countless others.
8. She has an award named after her from the “Save Our Seas Foundation.”
9. She Founded the Mote Marine Laboratory in Placida, Florida.
Directories / Credits
1. “Dr. Eugenie Clark (1922-2015)”, Written by Unknown & Published on an Unknown date. Published by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Retrieval Date: May 31st, 2023.
1. ”Eugenie Clark”, Written by Unknown, originally Published on July 20th of 1998, last updated April 30th of 2023. Published by the Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieval Date: May 31st, 2023.
1. “Remembering Mote’s “Shark Lady”: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Eugenie Clark” Published March 15th, 2015, Written by Hayley Rutger. Published by the Mote Marine Laboratory. Retrieval Date May 31st, 2023.
1. “Eugenie Clark Award”, Written by Unknown, Published on the 14th of August 2015. Published by the Save Our Seas Foundation. Retrieval Date: May 31st, 2023.
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