Scorpions and rattlesnakes are fine as far as they go, but they’ve got nothing on venomous sea creatures. Octopi, stingrays, stonefish, urchins—you can choose your poison in the ocean. Banded sea snakes wriggle into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels. Lion’s mane jellies dangle tentacles like poisonous curtains as they drift through midnight seas, trolling the depths for prey. Delicate-looking anemones paralyze and ingest passing sea urchins, spines and all. Corals and fireworms and snails, oh my! How did these venomous animals evolve?

Paul Erickson and Andrew Martinez wrote and photographed The Pier at the End of the World, a CBC/NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book.

Writer, photographer, and video producer Paul Erickson creates exhibits, websites, guides, and videos for zoos, museums, and aquariums including the New England Aquarium, the Houston Zoo, ZooMiami, the Friends of the Los Angeles River, the Museum of Science and Discovery, and many others. He has authored or co-authored numerous magazine articles and three books about undersea life. His book The Pier at the End of the World was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book of 2016 by the National Science Teachers Association.

ANDREW MARTINEZ (Danbury, MA) specializes in images of the undersea world and is the author and photographer of Marine Life of the North Atlantic. He travels the world to photograph sea life, and was the photographer for The Pier at the End of the World named an Outstanding Science Trade Book of 2016 by the National Science Teachers Association.

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