Victor B. SchefferBorn 27 Nov 1906.American zoologist, marine mammalogist and conservation writer who was a world authority on the biology and conservation of marine mammals. He worked as a biologist for the U.S. 1937-69 conducting long-term studies on fur seals. He discovered, among other things, that the underfur layer of a seal's coat contains nearly three hundred thousand silky fibers per square inch, and that each year a new dentinal ridge forms on the root of each of its teeth. He began his career sharing the prevailing notion that wildlife was a "resource" to be manipulated, but by the time he retired from government service and turned to a career as a science writer, he had adopted an appreciation of our "dependence upon, and responsibility for, natural ecosystems." |
