Helen Scales is a British marine biologist, broadcaster, and writer.
Personal life and education
Helen Scales learnt to scuba dive when she was 16 as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and from this experience wanted to know more about life underwater.[1]
She studied at St John's College, Cambridge as an undergraduate and holds an M.Sc. in Tropical Coastal Management from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Scales was awarded a Ph.D. from St John's College, Cambridge in 2005; her thesis title was Exploitation of coral reef fish for the live reef fish trade. This was particularly about the humphead wrasse. She was able to identify individual fish through the colour patterns on their heads after filming the fish underwater and so study their movement and behaviour.[2][1]
Her 2009 book Poseidon's Steed, on seahorses, was described by the reviewer for The Economist as "a fascinating book ... Scales ... explains the myth, biology and ecology of what the Victorians called 'queer fish'."[3] while in National Geographic the reviewer called it "a compelling book about seahorses that makes the case not only for these odd fish but also for the entire ocean."[4]
Scales is the author or co-author of scientific publications and book chapters as well as popular science books and magazine articles. These include:
Poseidon's steed : the story of seahorses, from myth to reality (2009, Gotham Books, ISBN9781592404742)
The underwater museum : the submerged sculptures of Jason deCaires Taylor / essays by Carlo McCormick and Helen Scales (2014, Chronicle Books, ISBN9781452118871)
Spirals in Time: the secret life and curious afterlife of seashells (2015, Bloomsbury Sigma, ISBN978-1472911360)
Eye of the Shoal: A Fishwatcher's Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything (2018, Bloomsbury Sigma, ISBN978-1472936837)