Book Description

This book plunges the reader into the heart of the sea.It is an elegantly-written account of one photojournalist's experience studying marine natural history and ecology. Illustrated with classic black and white photography, and annotated with references to classic marine literature, this book takes the reader from California to New Guinea, Fiji, Palau, and Tonga, to the Caribbean, to Alaska, and back again. Along the way, a quest to shed light on marine limits, symbiosis, and biogeography ties the adventures together.It will appeal to anyone who snokels, swims, scuba dives, surfs, studies marine biology, or loves the sea. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Adventures and Serious Scholarship
This is a meticulously researched book that reflects the author's deep commitment to the ocean environment. At the same time Dr. Vanstrum describes his adventures while surfing and diving all over the world. It's a fun, serious book.

Relying on interviews and communications with some of the foremost authorities on coral reefs (Dr. Richard Grigg) and ocean fisheries, Dr. Vanstrum makes a compelling case for the establishment of meaningful marine reserves in this country.

It is a shame that costs prevented the publication of Dr. Vanstrum's marvelous photographs in color. I have seen the originals in color and they are breathtaking. Even the black and whites reflect the skill and commitment of a superb photographer. For a sample of his photography in color I would recommend a visit to his Web site: www.Vanstrum.net.

Wealth of ocean information
This book is really well researched and presented in a very entertaining way. The author has a vast wealth of experience and understanding about the intricate balances of the ocean. If you've ever wanted to know, "what's down there?" or "what's so great about the oceans?" this is the book for you. I've been interested in the ocean and its life, and this book satisfies my curiosity.

Substantial and delightful
Vanstrum has written a book that balances scientific substance with the sheer delight of scuba diving. The 18 chapters of The Saltwater Wilderness are set mainly as trips to exotic places (like Fiji, Tonga, and Palau) and the author is masterful at conveying the human and humane character of the people and places he visits. But what makes this book different from many of its peers is that Vanstrum uses his knowledge of marine science to highlight the amazing things he sees beneath the waves in a way that makes them even more extraordinary.

For example, in chapter 8 the image of a seven foot barracuda floating over a brain coral (in Honduras) becomes a meditation on evolutionary history and in the process helps explain why THAT fish is stationed exactly over THAT coral. In one of my favorite chapters (13) I learned that for the millions of bacteria living in every liter of sea water, the ocean does not behave as a liquid, but more like viscous honey. Meaning? Where surfers see big waves crashing on underlying rocks, the microscopic bacteria riding those waves feel nothing of the kind--they live in a still place. It is this skillful contrasting of scales of both time and place that makes Vanstrum's book a very satisfying read.

The Saltwater Wilderness
This is a personal account of youthful excitement plus much mature information. Worthy of a scholar, a scientist and a surfer-diver. ... Read more

Book Description

"An elegant eco-cautionary tale wrapped in a scientific mystery." --Publishers Weekly.

Sea turtles have existed since the time of the dinosaurs. But now, suddenly, the turtles are dying, ravaged by a mysterious plague that some biologists consider the most serious epidemic now raging in the natural world. Perhaps most important, sea turtles aren't the only marine creatures falling prey to deadly epidemics. Over the last few decades diseases have been burning through nearshore waters around the world with unprecedented lethality.

What is happening to the sea turtle, and how can it be stopped? In this fascinating scientific detective story, Osha Gray Davidson tracks the fervent efforts of the extraordinary and often quirky scientists, marine biologists, veterinarians, and others racing against the clock to unravel a complicated biological and environmental puzzle and keep the turtles from extinction. He follows the fates of particular turtles, revealing their surprisingly distinct personalities and why they inspire an almost spiritual devotion in the humans who come to know them. He also explores through vivid historical anecdotes and examples the history of man's relationship to the sea, opening a window onto the role played by humans in the increasing number of marine die-offs and extinctions.

Beautifully written, intellectually provocative, Fire in the Turtle House reveals how emerging diseases wreaking havoc in the global ocean pose an enormous, direct threat to humanity. This is science journalism at its best. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

An Honest, Inside Account about the Fate of the Sea Turtle
I knew that sea turtles were endangered or threatened but never really investigated the reasons why. I found this book while perusing the book store and it caught my attention so I bought it and read it.
The book is well written and speaks to a non-biologist audience. It simply tells of the authors investigations into the reasons that they think the sea turtles are dying off at an alarming rate. It left me with my mouth gaping open and wondering why more people are not educated about the plight of this species.
While reading, the author makes you feel a part of their experiences, as if you were scuba diving with these creatures.
If the data from this book is any indication of the plight of the Earth's oceans, it is a very scary thought of what may be to come.
I recommend this book for ANYONE who is inquisitive about the hype surrounding "our dying oceans". It gives a detailed account of the afflictions affecting sea turtles and what we are trying to do to save them. The problem appears to go way beyond this mysterious virus. The book made me cry and get angry at the same time. We need to find out what is happening and target the source.
In the preface of the paperback edition, the author makes this statement: "If I could coin a blessing for a new world, it would be this: May your children swim in an ocean full of turtles." Amen to that Osha Gray Davidson.

Mysterious Waters....
Unequivocally, I loved this book! Parts biological mystery, turtle evolution, naturalist history and love story to the sea, it's wrapped up in very engaging prose. It made me fall in love with the creatures!! And apparently I'm not the only one...

In a book I read last year, "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made," the authors' dedicated the book to a green sea turtle!! It read:

"To the green sea turtle who twenty-five years ago bumped the bottom of a boat in Key West, Florida, scaring a little girl. Those tears and this book are for you and your descendants."

Here's hoping that turtle's descendants will STILL be around in another 25 years! But the more people who read this book, the more attention these endangered animals will deservedly get.

Compelling Read About Fate of Sea Turtles and the Oceans
Fire In the Turtle House is a thorough, investigative account of many dedicated marine biologist, scientists, and turtle lovers trying to figure out how and why green sea turtles have become afflicted with fibropamillomatosis. The virus is killing off the specie in untold numbers and will lead to their extinction. By the reading the book not only did I learn about sea turtles, and how they live and breed, but I got an enormous education in marine biology and how the ocean is a precious habitat for these creatures. The author helped me understand by giving specific examples as to how man is contributing to the ocean's decline and thus sea life's decline. This isn't a diatribe on man but a well thought out provocative look at a very important topic told so that everyone can understand. There is a quote in the book by Arthur C. Clarke that says that our planet should not of been called Earth but perhaps "Oceana." Very true when most of the planet is made up of water, as are we. My eyes have been open to the truth of this statement after reading Fire in the Turtle House.

Turtle Review
I thought that this book was ok. At times it was kind of boring and random. But, i liked learning about the turtles and the mysterious disease afflicting them. Overall this book is educational and good to read if you have some free time, but nothing special.

Bad News, And Not Just For Turtles
You didn't need to be told that humans are ruining natural environments all over the place. In the competition for survival, we are winning, beating out competitors, causing havoc, and claiming victory, however short term it may be. It is only particular aspects of the problem that are news, and we do need to be told of them for the purpose, if nothing more, of keeping our eyes open to the onslaught. Here is an aspect that you may not know about: green sea turtles are being killed off by a mysterious illness. A sincere and thoughtful book will tell you of the problem, if you can stand to hear about it: _Fire in the Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean_ (PublicAffairs) by Osha Gray Davidson. Davidson is a fine storyteller, and has pulled the history of sea turtles together with documentation about their current fate, as well as giving vivid portraits of the idiosyncratic turtle fans who are trying to do something about the turtles' problem. The particular problem for them is serious, and as Davidson's subtitle tells, it reflects a general and larger disaster.

The green sea turtle has survived for over a hundred million years, and it simply may not be around much longer. It has been overhunted, but as Davidson makes clear, overhunting is so cause-and-effect obvious that it is often blamed as the reason extinctions happen. However, a hundred years ago we were learning that the indirect methods of ignorance and indifference were far more efficient vectors of biological collapse by means of habitat destruction. We are also turning coastal waters into a breeding ground for a revolting disease called fibropapillomatosis, or FP for short. Tumors sprout on the flippers restricting motion, and around the eyes causing blindness, and within the guts causing eventual death. They are warty or smooth, and leeches live in them for the blood supply, and blood flukes lay eggs in them. In 1986 researchers were shocked that there were outbreaks of the disease in both Florida and Hawaii. The exact mechanism of the disease is in doubt, but what is not in doubt is that turtles with this disgusting and sad disease come from the areas which are most highly polluted, by fertilizers and sewage, or have sea beds gouged by trawling. Turtles from the few remaining pristine areas are so far unaffected, but no ocean creature will be unaffected by ocean temperature change, which is another way the sea becomes friendly to pathogens.

Davidson's work is full of facts and scientific information, and skillful portraits of people involved in trying to do something about this horrendous illness. If there is any defect in his book, it is that it spends its bulk explaining the problem carefully, and leaves only a few paragraphs for instruction on what we can do, and such instruction is general: "We could stop treating the ocean as if it were the world's largest garbage dump and start treating it like the sacred source of all life that it is... We could balance growth and development with habitat preservation. We could, finally, get serious about stopping global warming." Davidson is no pessimist, but sadly, it is probable that our "we coulds" are not going to change into "we wills" in time to stop this disaster, and the others connected to it. ... Read more

Book Description

From the shallows of the shoreline to the inky black trenches cutting across the floor, oceans house a complex and varied ecosystem. The sea's intricate food webs support more life by weight and a greater diversity of animals than anywhere else on the planet. Through awe-inspiring color photography, move through the waves and dive deep into the ocean's waters. Here, great white whales swim gracefully in spite of their enormous bulk, and massive coral reefs, built by countless millions of tiny creatures, grow. Further below, organisms feed off the chemicals pouring from volcanic chimneys, and at the very bottom, where intense pressure makes exploration virtually impossible, radically different life forms reside in a range of habitats. Special sections cover such subjects as dolphins, hammerheads, coral photography, and camouflage in detail, as well as the devastation wrought to this watery environment by humans--and what's being done to protect it.
... Read more

Book Description

California Seashore Life, An Introduction to Familiar Plants and Animals, is a must-have, reference guide for beginners and experts alike.Whether you're hiking along the coast, relaxing at the beach, or cruising along the shoreline, you'll want to take along a copy of this indispensable guide.

The Pocket Naturalist(tm) series is an introduction to common plants and animals and natural phenomena. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map identifying prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Each is laminated for durability. ... Read more

Book Description

On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula more than 1400 square miles of rugged mountains, richly forested river valleys, and pristine wilderness coast have been preserved as Olympic National Park. From rain forests with more than 160 inches of annual precipitation to arid rainshadow slopes, from rugged glacier-covered mountains to the wild Pacific coast, the park’s varied ecosystems feature an extraordinary range of plants and animals, including many species found nowhere else on earth. This illustrated complete guide covers geology, wildflowers and other plant life, rain forest ecology, glaciers, wildlife, rivers, the Pacific coast, and visitor information. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A good overview to a spectacular park
Olympic National Park rangers often recommend this book as the best overall guide to this intriguing wilderness region. With environments as diverse as wavespept Pacific coasts, glaciated alpine country and lush temperate rainforests, McNulty had his work cut out for him in capturing the essence of the Olympic Mountains. All in all, he has done an excellent job, hitting on these topics, as well as the human history and conservation issues of the region. I was disappointed with his coverage of the rainforests, whose stunning grandeur really deserves more than the brief chapter he gives them. To his credit,though, he concludes the book with an extensive bibliography that will satisfy anyone who wants to delve deeper. All in all, I would say that this book earns a home in the backpack or suitcase of anybody who plans on visiting this wonderful National Park. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Disappointing book printing
The photos are terrific. I love the short descriptions under the pictures which are very informative. I was disappointed with the print of the book. The printing did not do justice to the skill of the photographer. The pictures appeared very dull and lifeless, as if it went through the photocopier a lot of times. Not worth the [money] at all.

Probably the best UW Photography book I`ve seen so far
One of the great photographers to rise out of David Doubilet`s shadow is Roger Steene. I first saw this book in the shop one day,and I thought it was fantastic. The price was very high (I buy in Swedish crowns but let`s say that`s about § 60.00!But I`d bought it and found it terrific!I`d not heard of Steene before but he seems to be quite good. His photography is a little bit similar to David Doubilet`s. Although he does not have the magic light of Doubilet,this is a huge book of 4 pounds and 340 photographs!So there is much to chose from.Often,photo books underwater is very beautifull,but after reading them,I think they are too short. You cannot have enough of these kinda photos. You always want more. This one isn`t that short. It is so long that I can have full enjoyment of it. The photographs are taken from all over the world,but mostly from Indonesia. May be because the author lives in Australia,or may be because that is the most beautifull sea in the world. Over 20 animals have not even been named yet!So it is a treasure both for the naturalists,underwater photographers and may also for the scientists because of the species number covered. It is one of my favourite books and will highly recommend it. Here are some of the highlights : Red Coral crabs,small gobies,surgeonfishes,and not least the bristle worms.

Spectacular photos,Must-have book
This is a must-have coffee table book for any sea life or aquarium enthusiast. It is packed with spectacular full-color photos of the many beautiful, unusual & fascinating creatures of the reef.

A vast array of fish & invertebrates are included. Some of my favorites include a multicolored shore crab, bright red nudibranch & a translucent blue jellyfish. I also love the blue & white aeolid sea slug.

The odd-looking weedy scorpionfish, fingered dragonet & snapping shrimps really grab your attention. The numerous corals & octopi are also a treat. All the images are clear & many give very close up looks at the organisms.

Captions below give brief information on the creatures, such as defense methods, eating habits & mating rituals. Each is also identified by its both its Latin & common name. This is a gorgeous and informative book.

It's a masterpiece
Steene's photography is some of the best I've seen. I just received my copy of this book yesterday, and the pages are absolutely luminous with color. In terms of composition, artistic sensibility, and scientific interest, this book has to rank at the top of the field. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in South Pacific underwater photography.

absolutely stunning macro photography
Roger Steene is an Ausie and sometimes the way he describes marine life (in person) might seem a little over exaggerated. He told me about the octopi that imitated other marine animals, but I took the description with a grain of salt until I saw the actual photos in his new book "Coral Seas." It is simple fantastic. The full frame, macro shots of rare species photographed on beautiful, complimentary backgrounds show the special skills this man has for illustrating the wonderous living animals that live in the sea. Many people will never get to the distant places where Roger took the pictures or have the sharpness of eye nor the skill in finding these rare marine animals. Therefore this book is a must in everyones library.Wilt Nelson ... Read more

Book Description

Meet a cast of fascinating spineless wonders, from everyday clams, sea stars, and moon snails to enormous gumboot chitons, brightly colored nudibranches, and the eight-foot-long lion's mane jellyfish. This handy little book contains color photos, detailed illustrations, and intimate portraits of over 50 marine invertebrates. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

America's Great Ocean Adventure
David Helvarg takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of America's last great frontier - Our ocean wilderness. In lively, informative and often amusing writing he introduces us to the people and the critters who populate wet America, our 200 mile wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which,he also points out, is larger than the continental United States and far more challenging than the Wild West ever was.
From aircraft carriers, to underwater science labs, offshore oil rigs to Antarctic waters, he shows us both the tremendous environmental dangers facing our living seas as well as the watermen and women who are working to right things. If you're going to read one book about the seas, or encourage students and young people to learn more about our maritime heritage and future, this is the book to pick up and pass along.

Core Information is Brilliant, Presentation is Marginal

This is the worst of several environmental books I have reviewed, largely because its style is too chatty, the type and presentation formats chosen by the editor are terrible and make it difficult to read and enjoy, and there is isn't a single map or chart or table or figure in the entire book. Bearing in mind that this book made the cut from hundreds that I could have bought and read, and it made the second more rigorous cut to be reviewed, these comments should be taken as they are intended: this is a super book that got screwed up by the publisher and a lack of decent editorial guidance. It should be fixed in the second edition, and I hope it gets to a second edition. Given the author's clearly superior access to and understanding of the individual personalities and organizational players across America, I am really stunned and disappointed that there is not an appendix to the book listing all of these, with contact information and URLs.

There is so much solid, worthwhile information in this book, including valuable insights in why Western political interests are undermining proper representation of our national oceans, coasts, and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Congress, that I would urge those interested in the oceans (hugely more important to our future than the Amazon or globla forestry, just to make the point), to buy this book, suffer its limitations, and ultimately benefit from the wisdom and experience of the author, for whom my respect is unqualified and whole-hearted. In passing, it would probably be helpful if the first thing we all demanded was that EEZ stand for Exclusive Environmental Zone, rather than treating the oceans as a for-profit target area.

There is one other information-related observation I would make that emerged from reading this book: both the United Nations and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are clearly doing heroic and deeply important work vital to the future of the oceans--and they are doing a terrible job of communicating the basic information about the oceans and their work to the larger world of voters and concerned citizens. What really came home to me as I reflected on what to emphasize in this review is that there is a very wide, almost impenetratable, barrier between what the UN and NOAA know, and what is being communicated to the citizens who have the right to know (they paid for that information with their tax dollars) and the need to know and the desire to know. From this I would say that the next big step for those who would seek to save the oceans, is to demand that all UN and US Government information paid for by the taxpayer be put online henceforth, available at no further cost to the public. It is this information, the bullets and beans of the information war between corporate and citizen interests, that will decide the future of the oceans.

Waxing poetic on oil rigs
Helvarg offers front-line account of fight to save the Blue Frontier

By David Liscio

If it's possible to wax poetically about the way offshore oil rigs attract fish, while still remaining a staunch environmentalist, then author David Helvarg has succeeded.

Aboard a helicopter, he writes, "We circle around the flat-topped platform called Pompano. Owned by BP-Amoco, it is the second tallest bottom-fixed structure in the world, drilling into the ocean floor 1,310 feet below the surface. About 700 feet wide at its base, it is taller than the Empire State Building."

Another platform, Amberjack, is described as "the ultimate Tinkertoy. An active drilling rig, it towers 272 feet from the waterline to the top of its bottle-shaped derrick. Its density of utilized space is a structural salute to human ingenuity."

Author of "The War Against the Greens," Helvarg's latest book, "Blue Frontier: Saving America's Living Seas," (New York: W.H. Freeman & Co., 2001), delivers in-depth reporting on subjects such as ocean mining, reef management, oil exploration, over-fishing, and government ineptitude when it comes to formulating sound environmental policy. The author clearly has divided his time between research libraries and the field. He has visited the underwater living quarters of scientists off the coast of Key West, climbed the towering oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and gone diving off Monterey where Californians keep sharp lookout for white sharks, all with the intention to see up-close what's going on.

At the start of the chapter on offshore petroleum drilling, Helvarg quotes an oil company spokesman recalling the Huntington Beach oil spill of 1990. The spokesman says, "Then this Hollywood star pulls up in his limo, must have been half a block long, wanting to know what we've done to his beach. And I'm thinking, hey that limo of yours doesn't run on sunbeams you know."

Helvarg has been beneath the surface of the sea to examine precisely the rampant devastation of fragile ecosystems, the destruction of coral reefs by disease, human waste, phosphate blanketing, and sheer overuse, particularly dive boats that anchor rather than use fixed moorings.

Although the Alaskan coast dominates the news in 2001 whenever discussion turns to offshore drilling, Helvarg noted, "There are some 4,000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico today. Offshore drilling accounts for 20 percent of U.S. oil production and 27 percent of its natural gas. Despite heated debate over drilling off California, Florida, Alaska, and North Carolina, 93 percent of all present offshore production takes place in the gulf." He found that many of those expensive rigs are run by disciplined crews who produce lucrative returns for investors.

Helvarg has meticulously and colorfully described how the oil industry was created in North America, and included a brief review of the movie industry and the media impact it produced. For example, he cited the 1953 film "Thunder Bay" starring Jimmy Stewart as an oil geologist confronting suspicious shrimp fishermen in Louisiana's bayou. As Helvarg put it, the film reflects the dominant view of the time when progress and industry were thought to be synonymous, while today, an oil gusher would be viewed as an ecological disaster.

Key Largo, off Southern Florida, epitomizes another dilemma. In Helvarg's words, "Branching corals that once grew here remain only as skeletal sticks in bleached rubble fields. Many of the abundant rock corals are being eaten away by diseases that have spread in an epidemic wave throughout the Florida Keys. The names of the diseases tell the story: black band, white band, white plague, and aspergillus, a fungus normally found in terrestrial soil that can shred fan corals like moths shred Irish lace."

Through interviews and an exhaustive search for truth, Helvarg has broken new ground. He has managed to explain in a clear and straightforward writing style such issues as beach closings, oil spills, collapsing fish stocks, killer algae, pollution, reckless development, and the failure of the U.S. government to protect what may be its final frontier - the Blue Frontier.

Most importantly, he has found reason to remain optimistic. Consider his closing remarks: "Our oceans remain full of strange wonders and grand experiences that will thrill generations yet unborn. Despite all the problems and challenges we face fighting for America's living seas, that is still enough to give one hope. After all, it is not every great nation, forged by its earliest frontier experiences, that gets a second chance."

(David Liscio is the environmental reporter for The Daily Item newspaper in Lynn, MA, an ecology professor at Endicott College in Beverly, MA, and the Massachusetts correspondent to the Society of Environmental Journalists.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT!!!!
It's not just a book -- it's an adventure!

This book is full of interesting information yet amazingly fun to read as it takes us on an exciting journey around America's oceans. I learned much about various threats to the marine environment and the struggles dedicated people are launching against those threats. ... Read more

Book Description

Long hailed as the best guide to enjoying the state's 320 miles of coastline, Glenn Morris's North Carolina Beaches will help you find just the right spot for a long vacation or a one-day getaway. In this completely revised third edition, Morris takes a fresh and timely look at North Carolina's ever-changing coastal landscape, with its national seashores, state parks, public beaches, wildlife refuges, and historic sites as well as the beach communities where people live, work, and play. In a beach-by-beach tour, Morris details attractions and activities and provides phone numbers, addresses, and websites to help with your trip planning. Maps show the best places to park and what facilities--campgrounds, showers, restrooms, and more--to expect. Short features on topics from bird life to tidal forces inform and entertain. This book should be the first thing beachgoers pack for a visit to our coast. ... Read more

Book Description

As Curtis Badger will tell you, "Being a good naturalist has more to do with being an enthusiastic observer than traveling to distant places. It is more a matter of curiosity than of a need for adventure, a frame of mind rather than peculiarity of place." 'A Naturalist's Guide to the Virginia Coast' will indeed incite an enthusiastic interest in that special place where the land meets the sea. Among Badger's goals is to draw the observer beyond the armchair and reading lamp, the museum and classroom, and outdoors onto the beaches and tidal flats of the Virginia coast to experience its rich natural diversity firsthand. And foot-first: Feel the mud between your toes on the tidal flats at Chincoteague; walk the sandy beach at Back Bay; pedal a bike along the Cape Henry Trail at First Landing State Park.

Informative as a guidebook -- complete with sections on Virginia's primary coastal wilderness areas and appendices listing where to go and what to look for -- 'A Naturalist's Guide' also serves as a natural history primer, offering clear and concise chapters on the ecological, historical, and botanical background of the region Badger explores.

For the parent adventuring with a curious child or the experienced birder in new territory, the weekend wanderer or the seasoned naturalist, Curtis Badger's user-friendly guide provides an engaging discussion about just the sorts of wondrous things the interested observer will encounter on a visit to Virginia's coastline. ... Read more

Book Description

In the area of renewable sources of energy from the ocean, the report includes chapters on ocean thermal energy conversion; energy from ocean waves; energy from ocean currents; energy from tides; energy from oceanic winds; energy from salinity gradients; and energy from oceanic bioconversion. Also covered are the non-renewable sources of energy from the ocean with chapters on deep ocean oil and gas; offshore geothermal energy; and offshore hard mineral energy resources. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It's alright
In my Marine Science class, they issued this book to us. I've looked through it and some of the passages are okay, some are really good like Rachel's Carson's, and others just outright stink. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

WHY SEVEN?
Imagine putting together a committee whose purpose it is to write a book about the oceans around us, their history, and how our lives are affected by them. We would probably need a geologist, a mythology expert, a historian, a marine biologist, a physicist, a Biblical Scholar and his counterpart, an expert on Darwin's theories, an astronomer, a marine engineer, a seer or two, and last but not least, an explorer. Amazingly enough, Peter Freuchen is a sort of one man committee who fulfills all of these requirements and incorporates all of these viewpoints into his BOOK OF THE SEVEN SEAS.

Freuchen devotes chapters to a wide range of ocean related subjects such as the geological history of the earth from the time it was a flaming ball until it became the planet we inhabit today, then on to all aspects of the ocean ranging from currents to tides to to winds to the animals and plants that call the oceans home, ad infinitumn. Other chapters address the history of seafaring from rafts and sailing ships to submarines, discussions about great voyages from the early explorers to the Kon Tiki, great sea battles, and mysteries, mythology and marvels of the sea.

One discussion that I found particularly interesting revolved around the idea of the "seven seas." In reality, in Freuchen's own words, "there are at least seven times seven seas (or alternately) only one." The term was first used by ancient mariners of the Mediterranean world who knew only seven large bodies of water which they thought were the seven seas of the world. They also thought that the world was mostly land, between 85 and 90% in fact.

With the coming of the age of exploration, it was discovered that the ancients had made a rather serious error. There was a lot more water than had been thought, and many new seas were discovered. Because of these explorations and discoveries, the term "seven seas" was dropped and largely forgotten for several centuries. Then, in 1896, along came Rudyard Kipling. In looking for a title for one of his works, he rediscovered the term and incorporated it into his title.

In Freuchen's terms, "(Kipling) was a great man, and a popular man, (so) the world had to make his words good." To do this the geographers figured out a way to divide the ocean into seven parts. Again, according to Freuchen, it isn't a very good way, but we can get along with it "even if few of us can remember what the seven are."

For information purposes, the ancient and modern lists follow:

Ancient: Mediterranean, Red, China, West African, East African, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf.

Modern: Arctic, Antarctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian.

To summarize, and again quoting Freuchen: "The whole thing is a triumph of poetry over reality."

Freuchen's books have gone out of print and, in my estimation, that's a shame. All are worth reading both for the learning experience and for pure enjoyment. ... Read more

Book Description

Based on more than a half-century of research, Herman Melville’s Whaling Years is an essential work for Melville scholars. In meticulous and thoroughly documented detail, it examines one of the most stimulating periods in the great author’s life—the four years he spent aboard whaling vessels in the Pacific during the early 1840s. Melville would later draw repeatedly on these experiences in his writing, from his first successful novel, Typee, through his masterpiece Moby-Dick, to the poetry he wrote late in life.

During his time in the Pacific, Melville served on three whaling ships, as well as on a U.S. Navy man-of-war. As a deserter from one whaleship, he spent four weeks among the cannibals of Nukahiva in the Marquesas, seeing those islands in a relatively untouched state before they were irrevocably changed by French annexation in 1842. Rebelling against duty on another ship, he was held as a prisoner in a native calaboose in Tahiti. He prowled South American ports while on liberty, hunted giant tortoises in the Galápagos Islands, and explored the islands of Eimeo (Moorea) and Maui. He also saw the Society and Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands when the Western missionary presence was at its height.

Heflin combed the logbooks of any ship at sea at the time of Melville’s voyages and examined nineteenth-century newspaper items, especially the marine intelligence columns, for mention of Melville’s vessels. He also studied British consular records pertaining to the mutiny aboard the Australian whaler Lucy Ann, an insurrection in which Melville participated and which inspired his second novel, Omoo.

Distilling the life’s work of a leading Melville expert into book form for the first time, this scrupulously edited volume is the most in-depth account ever published of Melville’s years on whaleships and how those singular experiences influenced his writing. ... Read more

Book Description

Boyce Thorne-Miller is marine science and policy coordinator at SeaWeb, based in Washington, D.C.

SeaWeb is a nonprofit organization with the purpose of raising awareness about the marine environment and the life that abounds there in order to inspire a new and vigorous commitment to protecting oceans worldwide. Believing that the best tool is knowledge, SeaWeb strives to make credible scientific information about the ocean environment accessible to the public. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not an easy read or pretty picture book
There are many pretty books which do a good job cataloging threats to our ocean environment. If you want a brief, graphic outline effective at stirring your emotion and imagination stay away from this book. If you want in depth and have the time... check this out.
Boyce Thorne-0Miller took a interesting approach to a difficult assignment. She sets out to catalogue man's negative impacts of the sea and threats to oceanic biodiversity. She begins by outlining the definitions and necessity of biodiversity. Then chapter by chapter, topic by topic gives us the potential for various human-ocean interaction to damage it. She backs up her conclusions well with explanation and statistics and goes to great length to explain her deductive reasoning. This book would only be a bore to a person who doesn't have a serious interest in the subject and a little bit of a biology background. I would use this as a text for an undergraduate course on marine conservation biology. I would also suggest it for people with more than a cursory interest in marine conservation. It is wordy and thought provoking, but it presents information, it does not tell you what to think.

This book is not accessible for the casual reader
I bought this book in an attempt to expand my understanding of marine ecology from the perspective of a recreational scuba diver and a scientific reader.

The book seems to have a lot of good content, but I had to put it down because I didn't have the strong foundation in marine biology for it to make much sense.

Probably suitable for advanced readers! ... Read more

Book Description

Accessible and complex, coral reefs are ideal natural laboratories for studying a wide range of ecological and biological questions. This collection focuses on the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, which contain some of the most spectacular reefs found anywhere and which are relatively little studied. It will appeal to a broad range of researchers in ecology and will be an essential resource for anyone studying reefs. ... Read more