Paul Humann
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 certification #2222. In 1972, he left a successful law practice in his hometown, Wichita, Kansas, to pioneer today’s live-aboard diving craze as captain/owner of the M/V Cayman Diver, the Caribbean's first successful live-aboard dive cruiser.
Paul’s 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 marine life of Galapagos. Paul has authored two large-format underwater pictorial books and co-authored, with Ned DeLoach, ten 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 cofound with Ned DeLoach, Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) in 1990. In 2007 Paul received the 2006 DEMA Reaching Out Award for his lifetime achievements in the dive industry and was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was honored with the NOGI award for sports and education.
Join one of our sports' icons to learn how citizen science can make a difference; dive with the expert to learn the essential techniques to incorporate in to your own diving style. Co-author of the REEF series identification books, Paul Humann will guide a dive with hopes to find some of the more rare fish species of Saba. Learn the distinguishing features that allow us to identify fish species, and add some fun to your diving routine! Who better to learn Fish ID skills from than the master? Paul's official field project dive is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 2016 @ 1:30 p.m. His public presentation is Thursday, October 20, 2016 @ 5:30 p.m.--location TBD.
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