Dr. Bob Given: Scientific Diving Pioneer

[drbill]

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of one of the pioneers of scientific diving in our neck of the woods, Dr. Robert "Bob" Given.

Bob made some of the very earliest systematic SCUBA-based subtidal surveys of the waters off Santa Catalina Island in the mid 60's. His work was part of an effort that led to the formation of the Wrigley Marine Science Center here at Big Fisherman Cove. Bob also served as its director later. Much of his research work focused on diving physiology and he was active in pioneering a number of studies including some of the early deep air diving.

Bob was also instrumental in helping set up the Catalina Island Conservancy back in the early 1970's, an effort I had a much smaller part in as well. He was instrumental in the formation of the Catalina Conservancy Divers support group and in helping educate the divers of the group to conduct scientific data gathering. Bob served as a member of the Benefactor Members of the Conservancy until his passing.

More recently Bob taught biology classes at Marymount College in Palos Verdes.

Over the years he has inspired many to take both a professional and personal interest in the marine environment. I know Bob was a great help to me when I first started teaching marine biology using SCUBA here on Catalina back in 1969. He was also source of great council when I served as the Conservancy's Vice President in the 1990's.

The last time I spoke with Bob at length it was a sunny fall day. We were both sitting outside Antonio's Pizzeria admiring the scenery, and talking diving. Although Bob had already undergone a fair bit of treatment for a metastasized melanoma, he talked about wanting to don his gear and do one more dive. I told him I'd be proud to be his dive buddy. Unfortunately that never happened, but I hope Bob gets his chance now... in warmer waters!

My condolences to his family and his many friends. I'm sure a number of them will add their tribute here.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Although I am unfamiliar with the name, I echo your sentiments.

 

[drbill]

That's the kind of guy Bob was... modest, unassuming and not self promoting. I wish I could say the same about me.

 

[Thalassamania]

Bob was a long and dear friend who will be much missed. People have little or no idea of just how much we all owe him, especially in the scientific diving community. This is a real loss for me and I'll have to think of something appropriate to write later, I can't right now.

 

[Teamcasa]

My condolences to his family. He will be missed.

 

[kelpmermaid]

He introduced a lot of us to local sealife through the Conservancy Divers' marine species ID classes. I will always remember him when I see white feather hydroids; I had no idea what they were or of their potential to sting until I saw Dr. Given's slides. I'm sure he made an impression on many local divers; I wish he had been my professor. He will be missed.

 

[drbill]

I'm just getting ready to publish this as next week's column so I thought I'd post it here as well:

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #333: SCIENTIFIC NAMES CAN BE IMPORTANT!

Forty years ago I arrived at Arrow Point on Catalina aboard the dive boat Golden Doubloon, ready to assume my new position as marine biology teacher at the old Catalina Island School for Boys after a few dives. My knowledge of California waters was very limited at the time. The Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean were more familiar since I had lived in northern Florida as a boy, did my undergraduate studies on the East Coast, and free dove off Italy and Greece the summer before I moved here. Therefore the critters I would encounter in the waters off the island were then unfamiliar to me. Of course I liked the challenge of learning an entirely new set of "characters" in the ecological play, but this was in the days of snail mail rather than e-mail and Google searches. After all, my Harvard classmate Al Gore had just invented the Internet!

I searched for the best local field guides I could find, but they were far fewer then than they are today. However, within the first month I would encounter a man with substantial knowledge of our local marine life, and more importantly the willingness to share his knowledge with others. I met Robert Given at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center during a national conference for marine educators held at that unique site. He wasn't quite Dr. Bob then... that would come the following year.

Bob's surname could have been "Giving" instead of Given! He shared his knowledge gained through many dives in our waters. He gave me my first set of 35mm underwater slides that I used in my early classes at Toyon Bay, a big help since the first underwater pictures I took in Toyon Bay that year were next to worthless. Knowing access to good scientific literature was difficult to gain back then, Bob invited me to drive my trusty old M38A1 military jeep out to the lab so I could use the library. My busy schedule at Toyon didn't give me enough opportunities to do that, but I took advantage of the ones I could.

Over the 39 years I knew Dr. Bob, he accomplished much of great importance to our beloved island. In additional to his studies of the island's ecology, he undertook pioneering studies in diving physiology and deep air diving that many in the global SCUBA community have benefited from as well. Bob became director of the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center from 1975 to 1984. Along with another pioneer, Doug Propst, he was instrumental in helping the Wrigley and Offield families create the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, and served as one of its Benefactor Members from 1975 until his death. Bob also helped form the Catalina Conservancy Divers (CCD) in 1992 and served as their primary educator about marine species and ecology.

In 1984 Bob continued his passion for biology and education, teaching at Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes. His giving nature won the hearts of his students, both in Marymount's classrooms and those of the CCD divers whose understanding of marine life he enhanced. It has been said that Bob was one of those rare scientists who could transcend the sometimes stiff and formal nature of some old school biologists, and make the biological world come alive for the non-scientist as well. When I became Vice President of the Conservancy, Bob and I often talked about how best to address the challenge of ecologically managing this complex island, and to educate residents and visitors alike about its uniqueness.

My last memories of Bob were of our talks the year before he passed away, either on "the wall" or outside the patio at Antonio's Cabaret. He cautioned me about checking for hidden melanomas, the initial source of the cancer that eventually took him. However, most of our conversations were about diving... which should come as no surprise! He talked about wanting to don his gear one more time and do one last dive in Catalina's magical waters. I told him I'd be proud to be his buddy on that dive! Unfortunately that never happened as Bob's health declined and he went to that "Great Tidepool in the Sky" the following February.

On April 1st of this year, another noted marine biologist with strong Catalina ties, Dr. Eric Hochberg at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, sent me a copy of a scientific paper in the journal Zootaxa by Nicholas Philipp and Daphne Fautin entitled "Three new species of shallow water, yellow zoanthids (Hexacorallia: Zoanthidea: Epizoanthidae) from southern California, USA and southern Australia. It described the "new" species, Epizoanthus giveni, as having the distinctive features of a "sphincter muscle with alveoli arrayed in a single, longitudinal column, polyps no longer than 8mm beyond the coenenchyme, obvious scapus ridges numbering 19 or fewer, and mesenteries numbering 36 or fewer" found only on certain islets off Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands.

If you needed a dictionary to understand that description, I'll acknowledge I did too. I think Bob would probably get a big laugh at the wording used to define a species so commonly seen at Catalina dive sites like Ship Rock, Farnsworth Bank, Eagle Reef and Little Farnsworth. He had hoped for decades someone would finally describe this species and give it a true scientific name. And this name is special... since it was in honor of Dr. Bob! Of course Bob did not live to see this, but he was aware it was imminent. He did live long enough to be honored with the Robert Given Fund for Ocean Conservation created at the Conservancy by major donations from the Offield Family Foundation, Geoff and Alison Wrigley Rusack, and the Catalina Conservancy Divers... another fitting tribute to a man who gave so much to our island. I'm sure Bob is smiling somewhere "up there."

Image caption: "Dr. Bob" Given, the "yellow zoanthid" (Epizoanthus giveni) that now bears his name, and a solid wall of these anemone-like invertebrates on a deep wall at Farnsworth Bank.

 

[Shaka Doug]

He sounds like a great guy and huge contributor to the world of scuba. I'm sure he will be missed by many. Thanks for all you did and for guiding so many Dr. Bob! RIP in the great ocean in the sky!

 

[givenidaughter]

I want to thank Dr. Bushing for this special tribute to my father, Dr. Bob Given and to all that commented on it. I stumbled across this by accident and my family and I appreciate it so very much. He is missed dearly and it makes it so special to know that he was such an influence to so many. Again, many thanks.

 

[drbill]

Thanks... which one of Bob and Janet's daughters are you? Glad you had a chance to see this. I also published it in the Avalon Bay News and on my web site and I know your Mom was very pleased. Your Dad was a wonderful man... I just wish we had the opportunity to do that last dive together.