The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s July lecture — Diving the Island of Stone Money: The pristine reefs and fascinating history of Yap — will be presented by Steven Trainoff, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at 113 Harbor Way, Ste. 190.
Yap is part of the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a state within the Federated States of Micronesia. It is also known as the Island of Stone Money due to its curious history of using giant stone coins as the medium of trade.
Yap has a rich cultural and maritime history and is surrounded by healthy, vibrant reefs.
Trainoff earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Caltech, and a Ph.D. in experimental physics from UCSB.
The chief scientist for Wyatt Technology Corporation, he designs optical instruments for pharmaceutical and material science research and has been elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also has traveled the globe photographing the strange and beautiful creatures that inhabit the underwater world.
— Rita Serotkin for Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.