The 'Crocodile Saver'

THREE MONTHS ago, I stepped on a sea urchin in Hawaii, and my foot still hurts some. That's hardly comparable to the sadly ironic death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, killed by the barb of a stingray, one of the ocean's more benign creatures, while snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Still, it reflects a truth about our ocean planet: that almost every creature of the sea has some kind of built-in mechanism or tool with which to defend itself, be it camouflage, shell, spine, tooth, stinger, venom or toxin.

By David Helvarg

September 6, 2006