Peter Vine

Spirorbis – Stories from my Life Spirorbids are tiny spiral tube worms living in almost every coastal marine habitat on our planet. Engaged in a worldwide study of their biology and zoogeography, Peter Vine found that they gave him an unparalleled opportunity for travel and adventure. Having spent a year teaching as a VSO volunteer on Tarawa in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now Kiribati), Peter continued his studies in France, Greece, Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Tahiti, Tuamotus, New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, USA, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, China, Kenya, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Seychelles, and the United Arab Emirates. He taught at Khartoum University and directed a remote research laboratory on the coast of the Red Sea, where he dived to forbidden depths. He helped to investigate the Lough Ness Monster in Scotland, was caught in a hurricane in the North Sea, almost sank a British naval vessel, and helped to produce an Oscar-nominated film around his home in Connemara. Having established experimental and commercial fish farms in Saudi Arabia and Ireland, he assisted on a number of other award-winning films, was the author of, and engaged in, publishing numerous books and directed major elements of a nation's participation in four World Expos. Retiring from his media-related activities at the end of 2015, Peter returned to his academic work, publishing more on his Red Sea research, and eventually compiling this eclectic collection of stories from his varied and intriguing life. About the author Dr Peter Vine is a marine biologist and author with special interests in coral reef ecology, marine conservation, photography, and film-making. An adjunct lecturer at National University of Ireland, Galway, he has researched and published extensively on the Red Sea: as a participant in the Cambridge Coral Starfish Research Group to investigate crown-of-thorns starfish; as director of a small field laboratory at the University of Khartoum, and as scientific director of a fisheries development project for the Saudi and British governments. Having established the biological feasibility of mariculture in the Red Sea, he moved back to Ireland to develop one of the country's first commercial fish farms – a move that led to a new international enterprise with activities in the USA, Europe, and the Middle East. A series of authorship commissions led Peter and his wife Paula to establish three media companies: Trident Press Ltd in the UK; Trident Media Ltd in Ireland; and FQC Media FZ LLC in UAE. These companies were actively involved in film production and activities in support of a series of award-winning pavilions at World Expos in Spain, China, South Korea, and Italy. Peter is married to Paula and has three daughters, Catriona, Sinead, and Megan, all of whom, with their respective partners, live and work in Ireland.