Peter F. Sale is a marine ecologist who has seen firsthand the degradation of coral reefs during the course of his working life. A Canadian, he was educated at the University of Toronto where he completed a Masters thesis on a near-extinct race of trout, and at the University of Hawaii, where he learned to pronounce Hawaiian words tolerably well and commenced his lifelong engagement with coral reef fishes. He has been a faculty member at the University of Sydney, Australia, University of New Hampshire, USA, and University of Windsor, Canada, where he remains Professor Emeritus. He is currently Assistant Director, Institute for Water, Environment and Health, United Nations University, based in Hamilton, Ontario.