Hedgpeth, advocate of sea life

JOEL W HEDGPETH (94), a marine biologist and an environmental advocate who became an early voice for the rich diversity of plants and animals living along California’s coastline, died on July 28 in Oregon.

Hedgpeth studied the biology and distribution of sea spiders, or Pycnogonida, a group of bottom-dwelling organisms found along coastlines and dock pilings and in deep-ocean areas. He conducted his work worldwide, and described species in the Atlantic Ocean and off the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean.His advocacy was concentrated on California’s coastline and San Francisco Bay.In the 1960s, he worked to defeat a nuclear power plant proposed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company near Bodega Bay in California.As a young biologist in the 1930s and 40s, Hedgpeth met a promising student of marine biology, John Steinbeck.Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’ and ‘Sweet Thursday’ are lyrical novels about the fringes of coastal culture on Monterey Bay.Hedgpeth later lectured on ‘Cannery Row’ and its role in enlarging the public’s appreciation for the subtle web of seaweed, sponges, crabs and starfish that are uncovered on shore rocks at low tide.He established his reputation as “an incredible reservoir of historical knowledge of biology, people, animals and plants”.The New York TimesHe conducted his work worldwide, and described species in the Atlantic Ocean and off the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean.His advocacy was concentrated on California’s coastline and San Francisco Bay.In the 1960s, he worked to defeat a nuclear power plant proposed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company near Bodega Bay in California.As a young biologist in the 1930s and 40s, Hedgpeth met a promising student of marine biology, John Steinbeck.Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’ and ‘Sweet Thursday’ are lyrical novels about the fringes of coastal culture on Monterey Bay.Hedgpeth later lectured on ‘Cannery Row’ and its role in enlarging the public’s appreciation for the subtle web of seaweed, sponges, crabs and starfish that are uncovered on shore rocks at low tide.He established his reputation as “an incredible reservoir of historical knowledge of biology, people, animals and plants”.The New York Times