Stephen Hillenburg was fascinated with the ocean as a child.
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961  November 26, 2018) was an American animator, writer, producer, director, and marine science educator
 He started his professional career in 1984, instructing marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute, where he wrote The Intertidal Zone, an informative picture book about tide-pool animals, which he used to educate his students

