Book Description

Northeastern Seashore Life, An Introduction to Familiar Coastal Species North of Massachusetts, 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

With the help of the Discovery Channel, undersea explorer Barry Clifford fields an expedition that includes some of America's top experts in shipwreck recovery. Their goal is to find, identify, and possibly excavate the remains of history's most famous pirate ship: Captain Kidd's Adventure Galley. The search takes them to a tiny island off the coast of Madagascar, Sainte Marie, known to historians as the model for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd weaves together two exciting stories: the saga of Captain William Kidd, one of history's most baffling and mysterious figures, and Barry Clifford's obsessive quest to find perhaps the most notorious pirate ship of all time. The result is a tale of treasure and adventure that ends in death -- both Kidd's and, three hundred years later, that of a rival archaeologist who attempts to stop Clifford's expedition.

Reviews (2)

Great Adventure - Then and Now!
This is like getting two books in one!Part of the book tells the fascinating story of Captain Kidd and the other part, the story of Barry Clifford's expediton to Madagascar to recover Kidd's flagship, the Adventure Galley.

With the pictures and all, this book is better than TV.

Should be titled "In Search of Permits"
Clifford does a good job of alternating between the story of Captain Kidd and his own search for Kidd's flagship.But far too much of the book is dedicated to a long, boring rendition of Clifford's dealings with the local authorities, his rival ship hunter and the resulting phone calls and meetings required to secure permits for the excavation of the ship.Over 90 percent of the modern portion of the book reads like: "Then I called the President's daughter.Then she called me back.Then we met with the minister of the Interior.He told us to come back the next day.So I rode a bike around the island.The next day we called the President's daughter again...."The politics is simply filler so that he wouldn't be selling a 50 page book.To summarize -- there are many books that are a better use of your time. ... Read more

Book Description

Facts and technical data on the world’s oceans… The Oceans This guide to the most powerful and mysterious natural force is written for everyone who loves the ocean. The coverage is wide-ranging and in-depth, and the presentation underscores how important the oceans are to the inhabitants of this planet, and how their resources must be protected and best utilized for the welfare of humanity. In a lively, easy-to-read, question-and-answer format, The Oceans offers insights, facts and figures in answer to over 100 questions about the ocean. The information is organized into seven unique categories for study:

• The Physical Ocean
• The Biological Ocean
• The Meteorological Ocean
• The Chemical Ocean
• The Geological Ocean
• The Engineer’s Ocean
• The Global Ocean—Past, Present, and Future

Book Description

"This is the way to turn kids on to science." --Booklist

"Lively and engrossing . . . will hold the attention of young readers."--The Horn Book Guide

"What fun it is to read about beavers''mudpie telegrams,' monkeys' 'leopard alarms,' and birds' family songs. The quality of this [book] shines through. " --School Library Journal ... Read more

Book Description

Learning about nature has never been so much fun -- or so easy. Anyone, young or old, who can hold a pencil, brush, or crayon can quickly learn to identify nature with these coloring books based on the famous Peterson Field Guides. Once you have actually identified and colored an image, its filed marks will be engraved in your memory. ... Read more

Book Description

Recent decades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependent communities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.

In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean presents the first empirical assessment of the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as "fishing down the food web." The book:

• provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its present status
• presents a rigorous scientific assessment based on the key criteria of fisheries catches, biomass, and trophic level
• considers the factors that have led to the current situation
• describes the policy options available for halting the decline
• offers recommendations for restoring the North Atlantic

This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled "In a Perfect Ocean." The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean is a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessment of the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry. ... Read more

Book Description

An oil tanker breaks up off the coast of Spain, contaminating beaches and killing over one hundred thousand birds. Colorful coral reefs turn a deathly white around the world. Six whales die in the Bahamas from bleeding near their ears after the Navy tests an active sonar system there. After so much bad news, people are thirsting for workable solutions to the oceans crisis.

Heal the Ocean provides a refreshing change in the literature by emphasizing success stories in the struggle to save the seas. The author_a marine ecologist dedicated to protecting and restoring ocean ecosystems_first describes the nature of ocean environments and then discusses current and emerging threats, including pollution, overfishing, poor land use, deep sea mining, and the search for new energy sources. Heal the Ocean then urges that we build upon efforts that have successfully countered such threats, including:

allowing natural processes to restore the San Francisco Bay and Delta
innovative wastewater treatment at Ecoparque, Baja, California
the world_s first scientifically designed marine reserve network in California_s Channel Islands
traditional stewardship of land and sea by native Hawaiians
economic incentives for sustainable fishing in Alaska
new international fishing agreements with teeth
shifting consumer demand to sustainable seafood
building constituencies for ocean conservation and creating a new ocean ethic using sophisticated social marketing and community-building techniques

Upbeat and inspiring, Heal the Ocean will appeal to professional environmental advocates, community leaders, opinion-shapers, and policymakers, as well as any citizen aspiring to protect the ocean.

Rod Fujita is a Senior Scientist with Environmental Defense, in Oakland, California. He has studied the ocean for over twenty years, logging hundreds of hours underwater studying ocean wildlife, as well as playing a key role in setting up marine reserves in the Florida Keys and the Channel Islands, California.

Reviews (1)

UPBEAT, REALISTIC AND FULL OF NEW IDEAS
Dr. Fujita's highly readable book is full of positive examples of changes we can make to improve the environment. It is a realistic insight into the science of environmental change. The book takes the time to present the problems facing our oceans but also shares success stories for change. This is a wonderful book for a non-scientist, non activist but interested reader. ... Read more

Book Description

A richly illustrated reference.

Sharks are awe-inspiring, beautiful, mysterious and frightening. However perceived, they never fail to excite and impress. They predate the dinosaurs and have ruled the seas for 400 million years.

Shark presents the facts and explores the fallacies about these nearly perfectly adapted fish, from their prehistoric beginning to their struggle for survival today.

The book covers: - Their origins and ancestors - Diversity of the species - Shark behavior and physiology - Research projects - Face-to-face encounters - Conservation efforts.

A detailed chapter on shark attacks explains where, when and why attacks occur. The book also describes the different types of attacks -- hit-and-run, bump-and-bite and sneak attacks -- and provides useful tips for not becoming a statistic.

Engagingly written and illustrated with stunning photographs, Shark combines the latest scientific findings and celebrates the mystery and diversity of a remarkable species. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Gunnar Hansen takes readers on a trip that no one seems to have thought of before: a 2,700-mile journey along America's sandy barrier islands from the Mexican border to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. These islands separate ocean from lagoon, saltwater from freshwater, sea bird from shore bird, and--until many were developed for tourism--sea-goer from landlubber. The barrier islands are young, Hansen tell us, formed in the last ice age only a few thousand years ago. They are also extremely vulnerable to damage, as Hurricane Emily demonstrated in 1993 when it tore away a good portion of many Atlantic islands. In his lively book, Hansen points out that the frequency and intensity of such storms seems to be on the rise, so see the islands while you can. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Leatherface Goes Island Hopping
Gunnar Hansen should have titled his book "Leatherface IV: A Grisly Journey to the Barrier Islands of America." Hansen played the saliva-spouting, prozac-needing backwoods butcher in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and continues to bring his less-than-subtle beastly charms to B-grade horror flicks. Still, while such a cheap marketing ploy might have helped sell some more books, it wouldn't have made the writing more graceful or the observations more keen. In this account of the strange world of barrier islands, from the deserted Boca Chica in Texas to the resort islands of North Carolina, Gunnar casts his eye upon weary island dwellers, vacant-eyed tourists, and a host of natural phenomena. Unlike his maniacal alter-ego, Gunnar manages to convey a sense of desperation, as seen in the natural destruction and financial exploitation of the islands, without leaving a messy trail of blood and entrails. His account of life on the edge of America, in the great tradition of other bushy-bearded hermits like Farley Mowat and Edward Abbey, combines a sharp sense of moral direction with the softspoken wisdom of a teacher. What's really scary is that more people aren't writing books such as this ... Read more

Book Description

In Monsters of the Sea, Richard Ellis, one of the country's foremost authorities on ocean life, casts his net wide in search of the most unusual aquatic creatures - from mermaids to manatees to the Loch Ness monster and the mythical sea serpent for whom the giant squid has frequently been mistaken. He examines the literary sources of sea-monster lore, from The Odyssey to Jules Verne to Peter Benchley.

Highly entertaining, packed with curiosities, and backed by the author's impeccable scientific credentials, Monsters of the Sea is a one-of-a-kind journey into two extremely fertile worlds: the human imagination and the deep blue sea. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Just plain fun
"Monsters of the Sea" is a book that'll bring out the 11-year-old kid in anyone with a shred of curiosity. It's great fun.

Richard Ellis, a capable and lively popular science author, is always wrestling with how to frame his material. His book "Deep Atlantic," for example, took a long time coming together because he couldn't figure out how to narrow his subject down to a book's length. Even then it included some repetitive material, as a few reviewers noticed. I've read a handful of his other titles now, and this one and the excellent "Encyclopedia of the Sea" are the two where he really succeeded in figuring out how to structure things. This is an effortless read.

"Monsters" alternates between reviewing people's mythological, "monstrous" ideas about sea creatures and describing the animals as they actually are: you read all the Kraken stories, and then you learn about squid, and the giant squid in particular. That outline of the book works really well. First you hear the old sea yarns, and then those lead you into the marine biology. Both sides are written very engagingly.

And then there are the loose ends. There's a chapter in this book about "blobs and globsters" that I really figured I'd be bored by. Not at all. Those are the enormous things that washed up on beaches that nobody's really explained. Ellis can't write the second chapter about them -- there's no marine biology that's explained the things, not yet.

This book, like any good popular science, could lead you in a lot of different directions. If you're interested in Deep Sea life, Ellis's Deep Atlantic would be good -- or you could try William Broad's "The Universe Below" if you're more into the mechanics of submersibles and sunken ships. There are lots of books about sharks and whales of course. Ellis wrote one about the Great White shark that's supposed to be good. He also gathered lots of his giant squid material for a book on Architeuthis Dux.

I'd recommend starting with this one, though. It'll get your sense of wonder going.

A Wonderful Compilation
One of the best works I've ever read about the ocean's most mysterious monsters and the real animals behind the myths. In an eloquent, well structured and entertaining compilation, Ellis introduces us to larger-than-life creatures that frightened both mariners of centuries past and audiences of theater and movies. Then he takes us on a voyage of discovery as he reviews the available facts and natural history to explain the equally amazing animals responsible for these fantastic accounts. Informative and thought provoking, this book grasps the interest of both the believer and the skeptic, and encourages us to instill in ourselves not only prudence and responsibility in scientific exploration, but also a sense of childlike wonder in the mysteries of the unknown.

Cryptozoological Writing at its Finest
Actually, as a writer, Ellis leaves something to be desired. He can be a little repetitive and disorganized at times (but is that more a criticism of him or his editor?). However, the content of this book is incredibly interesting, and it is presented very well. Ellis maintains a very good degree of subjectivity, considering the strange matters that he is discussing in the book. The topics, ranging from the myth and history of mermaids (which we now know as manatees and dugongs) to the strange blobs that have washed up on several beaches in the past century, to the giant squid which Ellis would go on to write an entire book about, are fascinating. The degree of detail he goes into when describing both the mythology behind these monsters, and the science and natural history of the creatures we now believe formulated these myths is amazing.

really good
It was a really great novel. His desciption of tentacles made me laugh. The St. Augustine monster that wased ashore he thinks is a 200 foot octopus. Other than that he debunked every other sea monster.

An intruiging look into the mysteries of the sea!
Richard Ellis has written a fantastic book! It is thorougly researched and accurate, yet does not read like a textbook. The chapters are the perfect length - long enough to cover the subject in detail, but not so long that the reader loses interest. Reading this makes you realize how little we landbound humans know about what really goes on in the depths of the sea. Can we really say conclusively that there is no such thing as a sea serpent? Ellis presents every viewpoint - could have been a whale, could have been a squid...but maybe...who knows? ... Read more

Book Description

Thid classic work is still considered the best book on Atlantic salmon fishing ever published. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Classic of North American Atlantic Salmon Fishing!
This is the classic text - the original is nothing short of gorgeous! It is however, not the most useful book for the modern salmon angler - though his section on greased line fiahing is useful. A good choice to flesh out the library. ... Read more

Book Description

Life as a fishing guide ain't easy.Just ask Skip, the hilarious character developed by Sandy Rodgers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Carp! Carp! Carp!
That should have been the title of this book. It's one long complaint. Skip makes guiding for fish in the Florida Keys sound like working in the salt mines. Most of the guides I know don't expect their clients to be the experts they are. If they were then they wouldn't need their services. I also live in the Keys and I am familiar with the problems Skip encounters but I don't plan to move any time soon. I also found the writing to be less than smooth. A lot less. In "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" it is said that men solve problems while women just want to complain about them in order to receive sympathy. I'd say that hit the nail on the head. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (3)

Listen to Listening to the Sea
In this book, a must-read for anyone interested in the sea, Robert Jay Wilder gives us a new and rational slant on the problems and stewardship of the oceans. Rather than painting scapegoats, he gives the reader an unbiased history of current maritime dangers ( from overfishing to competing maritime bureaucracies), and then presents sensible solutions.'Listening to the Sea' doesn't blame, it heals.

Along the way, there are many pearls to keep things interesting - from cannon range leading to the three-mile limit to how fuel cells work. The meat of the book lies in its clear outlining of the precautionary principle, the philosophy underlying sensible reform of our relationship to the oceans. Wilder makes a compelling claim that combining this with an integrated management plan that uses marine reserves, something akin to Australia's approach to the Great Barrier Reef, offers the best chance to save our oceans.

Listen to Listen to the Sea
In this book, a must-read for anyone interested in the sea, Robert Jay Wilder gives us a new and rational slant on the problems and stewardship of the oceans. Rather than painting scapegoats, he gives the reader an unbiased history of current maritime dangers (from overfishing to competing maritime bureaucracies), and then presents sensible solutions.'Listening to the Sea' doesn't blame, it heals.

Along the way, there are many pearls to keep things interesting - from cannon range leading to the three-mile limit to how fuel cells work. The meat of the book lies in its clear outlining of the precautionary principle, the philosophy underlying sensible reform of our relationship to the oceans. Wilder makes a compelling claim that combining this with an integrated management plan that includes marine reserves, something akin to Australia's approach to the Great Barrier Reef, offers the best chance to save our oceans.

Beautifully written, accesible history and science
"Listening to the Sea" describes the gradual development of territorial sea limits that grew outof military, then fishery protection, concerns that have no relevance whatever to the proper governance of the sea and its resources but which continue to this day to create boundaries where none really exist. Wilder presents a wealth of historical information in a way that is easy to read and retain. He traces the history of federal-state struggles concerning authority over the exploitation of offshore oil and other resources which underpin current issues about the proper uses of the outer continental shelf and how to allocate federal funds related to OCS. Wilder follows the development of US environmental legislation and the inernational agreements that increasingly are required to find solutions to problems that extend across the "notional" borders nations have created at sea, arguing for an emphasis on prevention rather than cure, the extension of the precautionary principle to all national and international rule-making, and the development of a "holistic" approach to all questions involving the seas and the wildlife that live in them. This covers the substance to be found in the book, but not its effect. It is beautifully written. It's hard to avoid a sense that Wilder may be overoptimistic about the potential for the development of a more "enlightened self interest" to prevail in the governance of the oceans. But "Listening to the Seas" does leave you feeling better about the future and possibilities for scientists and policymakers to work together and for international agreements that might begin to turn around some of the awful trends we've seen in the last 20 years. While things have changed for the worse environmentally, they have changed greatly for the better in terms of the public's recognition of those facts and issues. ... Read more

Book Description

On January 2, 1678, a fleet of French ships sank off the Venezuelan coast. This proved disastrous for French naval power in the region, and sparked the rise of a golden age of piracy.

Tracing the lives of fabled pirates like the Chevalier de Grammont, Nikolaas Van Hoorn, Thomas Paine, and Jean Comte d'Estrées, The Lost Fleet portrays a dark age, when the outcasts of European society formed a democracy of buccaneers, settling on a string of islands off the African coast. From there, the pirates haunted the world's oceans, wreaking havoc on the settlements along the Spanish mainland and -- often enlisted by French and English governments -- sacking ships, ports, and coastal towns.

More than three hundred years later, writer, explorer, and deep-sea diver Barry Clifford follows the pirates' destructive wake back to Venezuela. With the help of a lost map, drawn by the captain of the lost French fleet, Clifford locates the site of the disaster and wreckage of the once-mighty armada.

Reviews (3)

Buccaneers and Underwater Archeology
Barry Clifford has put together an entertaining book that tells two stories linked across 300 years by a maritime disaster that drastically altered the fate of the Caribbean. He interleaves the stories in a successful effort to provide tension and suspense, keeping the reader interested throughout the book.

The first story is a narrative of the underwater exploration of the site of the wreck of Jean Comte d'Estrées fleet off Las Aves island. He details the interpersonal relationships and trials of gaining approval to explore the wrecks in foreign waters. While I am not very interested in underwater archeology, Clifford made these segments entertaining and very readable.

For my interest, the other thread of the book was the real meat. Barry Clifford provides a detailed history of several of the major figures from the beginning of the Golden Age of Piracy, specifically 1678 to about 1700. He provides a good deal of information on the Chevalier de Grammont, de Graf, Thomas Paine (not the author of Common Sense) and Nikolaas Van Hoorn. Clifford recounts the many sackings of towns, and interactions with local governments, including the changing attitudes as the years wore on.

Overall, I found this to be an entertaining and informative read. I may have to look into finding copies of his other books. For more information on piracy in the Caribbean (from the Spanish viewpoint) try Pirates in the Caribbean :1493-1720 by Cruz Apestegui. P-)

Another engrossing read by expeditioneer Barry Clifford
Another book by the "archeological privateer" Barry Clifford, the oceanic excavator who found the wreck of Black Sam Bellamy's ship the Whydah in the sands off Cape Cod. His writing has improved since he wrote "Expedition Whydah," though he's still not a master with words. No matter, his subjects are always facinating enough I don't mind that the prose can be a bit clunky.

This one traces his team's discovery and exploration (underwritten by Max Kennedy, the BBC, and the Discovery Channel) of a wreck of an entire fleet of ships--5 French warships and two pirate ships the French fleet hired to assist them in warfare--on the reef of Los Aves off the coast of Venezuela. In a similar vein to the Whydah book, Clifford intersperses his text with photographs, maps, and drawings, and alternates the story of his expedition with history about the pirates involved in the wrecks.

In this case, he does the opposite of the Whydah story (which traced Sam Bellamy's rise to captainship and followed him until his demise), and instead follows the lives of the documented pirates who *survived* the massive wreck at Los Aves, among them a famous and ridiculously lucky mulatto captain named Laurens de Graff, and a New England pirate named Thomas Paine who later went on to return to his home and established himself as a powerful and corrupt politician (not the same Thomas Paine that wrote the "Common Sense" political publication, this was a few decades earlier). The historical portions of the text offer a lot of great insight into the piratical/buccanneer climate (political, economical, etc) of the mid- to late-17th c. in the Caribbean and Spanish Main.

Most interesting is the existance of a period map he brought with him, drawn by the leader of the shipwrecked fleet from shore where he survived the wreckage, outlining the positions of each wreck and labelling them by name--his accuracy was apparently quite high, so it functioned like a literal 'treasure map,' showing the explorers exactly where they would find the wrecks of which ships! There's not as much info on artifacts in this one, since they merely mapped and filmed the wrecks and haven't excavated yet (unknown if they will, in fact, due to most of the wreckage having become an integral part of the ecosystem of the reef by now), but there's a lot of really new discoveries on the research front (pub date on this is 2002) about the various pirates involved, most of whom are lesser known names (as opposed to the more "famous" pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, who came later...these were the pirates operating on the cusp of the Golden Age of Piracy).

So, if you want to read some detailed info about pirate captains of the pre-1700 era, this is a good book to check out!

Two Stories In One Book
Barry Clifford has written an interesting book on a fleet of French ships that were in pursuit of Dutch ships which led the French into the treacherous waters of the reef off of Las Aves Island near the coast of Venezuela in 1678. He states the wreckage of the French fleet on Las Aves was the beginning of some of the greatest pirate careers in history. British and French ships would attack Spanish ships as they returned to Spain after loading up on riches in the New World. Many pirates, Clifford states, met a brutal demise and he goes into detail in regard to a number of pirates to illustrate his point while one in particular, Thomas Paine (not the one of Common Sense fame), managed to retire and lead a somewhat respectable life. Clifford organized a team to visit the site in 1998 and locate the fleet for purposes of drawing and photographing whatever he may find of the remains. He was not interested in disturbing the reef by removing artifacts. Clifford goes into interesting detail on his team's visit to Las Aves as they go about doing their assigned work. Clifford alternates throughout the book covering piracy during the 1600's and his visit to the site during 1998. I took a chance on buying this book through the History Book Club not really knowing what I was getting. I found this book to be very worth while to read and it will have a permanent place in my library. ... Read more

Book Description

Pacific Reef & Shore is the 21st century successor to Harbo's 1980 bestseller Tidepool and Reef, with more species, up-to-date scientific information and many brilliant new full-colour photographs of the 300 most common plants and animals of the intertidal zone. Arranged for quick identification with colour-coded sections, this ingenious guide has written descriptions of each organism, with size, habitat and interesting facts conveniently placed next to its photo.Authoritative and accessible, Pacific Reef & Shore is the indispensable companion for divers, kayakers and beach strollers alike. ... Read more