Humans in the tide pools

I agree with Brian--The scenes and descriptions of the tide pools are amazing...and these are what most remind me of Moby-Dick...humans are simply another animal in nature, with all the pleasant and not-so pleasant implications of that...another specimen to investigate and study--human babies are in jars in Doc's lab and sliced up on slides just like the octopi and anemones. All life is on an equal footing...all is precious, mysterious, amazing...and all is to be examined and observed.

Thinking of the Monterey Bay aquarium and the tide pools of Monterey Bay, the book is another investigation into lives of animals...I know that's a little dramatic and cliche, but I can't help but be drawn to the idea that each chapter is like looking into a different exhibit tank at the aquarium. It's just that we're looking at people and observing their behavior rather than that of jellies. And yet, observing both jellies and people is fascinating, mysterious, and lovely.

Nature is beautiful, cruel, seemingly random, and yet, there seem to be patterns and other forces that are just beyond our grasp or understanding. Is it just our human minds that have to ascribe meaning to everything ("surely all this is not without meaning", or are we actually on the right track, and we just haven't discovered the exact nature of the patterns and the meanings thereof.