Book Description

During the late 1960s and 1970s, massive herds of poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish suddenly began to infest coral reef communities around the world, leaving in their wake devastation comparable to a burnt-out rainforest.In What is Natural?, Jan Sapp both examines this ecological catastrophe and captures the intense debate among scientists about what caused the crisis, and how it should be handled. The crown-of-thorns story takes readers on tropical expeditions around the world, and into both marine laboratories and government committees, where scientists rigorously search for answers to the many profound questions surrounding this event.Were these fierce starfish outbreaks the kind of manmade disaster heralded by such environmentalists as Rachel Carson in Silent Spring? Indeed, discussions of the cause of the starfish plagues have involved virtually every environmental issue of our timeover-fishing, pesticide use, atomic testing, rain forest depletion, and over-populationbut many marine biologists maintain that the epidemic is a natural feature of coral-reef life, an ecological ""balance of nature"" that should not to be tampered with until we know the scientific truth of the crisis.But should we search for the scientific truth before taking action? And what if an environmental emergency cannot wait for a rigorous scientific search for ""the truth?"" The starfish plagues are arguably one of most mysterious ecological phenomena of this century.Through the window of this singlular event, What is Natural lucidly illustrates the complexity of environmental issues while probing the most fundamental questions about the relationship between man and nature. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent review of coral reef management
As a wedge in the reflection of our coral reef management policy, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks attracted people's attention on our deteriorating reef environments. With the concern of biodiversity conservation, Jan Sapp included and organized documents of scientific studies and political events to examine the proposed reasons of starfish plagues and its influence on global reef management. For those who are interested in coral reef biology and environmental management, this easy-read book provides good amount of reef ecology knowledge, also reveals a good case to understand how on-land decision makers determine the fate of underwater world. ... Read more

Book Description

The coastal waters of British Columbia are among the most treacherous in the world, with steep rocky shores, mazes of reefs, waves fifty feet high, and Pacific storms that blow in unexpectedly with the force of hurricanes. Most vessels that venture forth on these waters arrive safely at their destinations.Others have not been so lucky. These twenty-one hair-raising accounts of marine disasters and near disasters come from those who lived through them: the fishermen, Sunday boaters and cruise ship passengers; and the rescuers who were there. These are stories of death, near-death, terror and grief. They are also stories of faith, determination, the tremendous courage of ordinary people, and the transformative power of surviving a life-threatening ordeal. The accounts are harrowing, funny, honest and very, very moving. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth, Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker chart the history of beaches from the time of their formation to the present, examining the shifting significance of beaches to Western cultures through the centuries. Lencek and Bosker are capable historians whose love of beaches shines through in their writing. They assert that the way people approach the beach reflects their culture's current beliefs about sexuality, class divisions, aesthetics, and leisure. At times, the authors go a bit overboard in proving how important beaches are to society, but it is easy to forgive them because this book is crammed with interesting tidbits and choice sentences, such as, "The sands of Oregon's Florence Beach squeak with the high-pitched bark of distant chihuahuas." Great old movie posters, photographs, and odd tourist brochures are sprinkled throughout the book, enlivening the text.

After a chapter on the geological makeup of sand and beaches, the authors chronicle the waxing and waning popularity of beaches through the ages. It seems that people did not always think of the beach as a good place to kick back, get a tan, and leaf through a book with lots of pictures. During the Middle Ages, many Europeans avoided the ocean in part because they believed water was connected to the horrible plagues that occasionally devastated the region. Later, an entrepreneur convinced the British upper class that drinking saltwater was a good way to cure "windiness of the spirit" and other ailments. Gradually, the rich figured out that the beach is not only healthful, it's fun! Technological innovations made it easier to get to the beach, and so more people of all classes went there. Swimsuit styles changed as textiles, sexual mores, and ideals of beauty evolved. This book should appeal to many readers because it is packed with good tidbits to ponder between naps on the beach, things such as the origins of suntan lotion, the development of the Australian crawl, and the singing dunes of Kauai, Hawaii. --Jill Marquis ... Read more

Reviews (4)

lost in san francisco
Why, oh, why do swimmers get "lost" writing about San Francisco? Answer: ? Lencek and Bosker have 11 1/2 pages of bibliography, (including "Haunts of the Black Masseur:The Swimmer as Hero" by Charles Sprawson,published in 1992.) While Sprawson's book focuses on the swimmer through history, and thus touches on PLACES where the swimmers swim, Lencek and Bosker (hererafter "LB") focus on the beaches through history and thus touch on the same beaches and places that Sprawson visits,or in some cases writes about without having visited (his first edition was published in Great Britain)and while Jack London gets ample admiration, the book has a world-wide approach to swimming through the ages---Byronic,English,German,Japanese,American periods are among those explored via word and art.) They may have walked through San Francisco together to reach the Sutro Baths(or never seen them), but they all got lost before placing Fleishhacker Swim Pool on the wrong side of San Francisco Bay. Sprawson:"The great Sutro Baths of San Francisco were founded in 1896 by an engineer who had made his fortune from devising a tunnel to drain the flooded shafts of the silver mines in Nevada.Sutro then turned his aquatic genius to designing the most remarkable pool ever built." LB:"An engineer who had grown wealthy by devising a tunnel for draining the flooded shafts of Nevada silver mines gave San Francisco the equivalent of Mediterranean bathing in oceanside swimming pools.In 1896 he opened Sutro Baths, a remarkable complex situated high above the Pacific. Sprawson:The railway company ran two lines directly to its entrance, from where stairs descended to what was the largest glass-roofed building in existence,situated high above the Pacific,full of palm trees that stretched up to its ceiling, stuffed anacondas, a Tropic beach, restaurants, and in the main amphitheatre, seven separate swimming pools overlooking the ocean. LB:In the main amphitheater, seven swimming pools, holding two million gallons of seawater and ranging in temperature from icy to warm, overlooked the ocean. Sprawson:Their temperature varied from ice-cold to warm. They held two million gallons of sea water, and could accommodate ten thousand bathers at a time,who could vary their swimming with swinging from the rings and trapezes, or diving off the nine springboards and several high platforms. LB:At any one time, ten thousand bathers swam, swung from the rings and trapezes, and dived from the springboards and platforms. BUT SPRAWSON AND LB somehow misplace the Fleishhaker swimming pool, which they call "the Fleishhaker." The pool,no longer in existence, was south of Sutro Baths, along the Pacific, yet Sprawson (writing from Britain, perhaps) writes: "On the other side of the Bay was the largest open-air pool in the world,the Fleishhaker, that resembled a lake with an Italian Renmaissance changing room stretching almost its entire length."Well, it was a thousand feet long and lifeguards had a rowboat or two among their patrol tools, but despite its size, it resembled a large swimming pool, not a lake. LB:"Across San Francisco Bay (NO,NO,NO) was the Fleishhacker,another gargantuan swimming facility. Its Italian Renaissance changing rooms were the height of elegance (NO, not by the 50's or 60's, anyhow). Sprawson:But the water was never warm, and divers were put off by the perpetual mist that hovered over its surface..." LB:"The size was something of a liability,however:the temperature of the water was always on the cold side, and a constant fog hovered over the swimmers." Both neglected to note that the water was "on the cold side" because it was pumped directly from the Pacific Ocean less than a quarter mile away. AND IT WASN'T 'ACROSS THE BAY.' It was next to the ocean, and on the same "side of the bay" as Sutros. That said, hey, if you like the beach, add it to your collection. And if you like the beach, you probably like the water, too, and in that case, bette add Sprawson's book to your collection too. His cover, swimmer "Houlgate" sitting on the wet sand, 1919 by Jacques_henri Lartigue, is enough reason to get the book...plus a wonderful selection of classic and modern artwork depicting the world of the swimmer. No maps of "the Fleishhaker."

A good 'beach book' on the beach
Lencek and Bosker describe themselves as specialists in popular culture and that they are. Their book on the history of the beach should be properly be described as history lite.

The central theme of the work is what people have and are doing on it and in it, what do they wear to the beach and not wear to it, etc. In short this is a social history of the beach with only passing references to its many other aspects such as geology, economics, politics, history, ecology, etc.

The book also looks at the beach at length only in the U.S., the U.K. and on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The social history of the beach in the rest of the world, were in fact most beaches are located, is never discussed other than in passing.

For those going to the beach with time to spend reading this is a fine book. For those looking for serious history you may wish to look elsewere.

The best history of the evolution of beach vacations!
I finally found a book that takes the reader through the history of society's love for the beach! It is a wonderfully light and easy read that reveals tons of interesting information about beach going. As a sand dune ecologist, I was very impressed with the representation of the present problems facing beach development. The historical trace enables the reader to understand why we keep pouring money into a disappearing shoreline!

As beach reading, it's OK
As a lifelong beach-lover, I picked this book up just before leaving on vacation to -- you guessed it -- the beach. I read it while sitting -- right again -- on the beach. Unfortunately, neither the book nor the vacation were especially enjoyable and I left it behind -- on the beach. I hope the next person who occupies the beach cottage enjoys the book -- and has a better vacation.

While the authors have dug up a lot of interesting material, I felt that I was not so much reading a book as reading the notes for a book. Had to resist the urge to tear out all the pages and put them in the "right" order. ... Read more

Book Description

Estuaries are the point of convergence for almost the entire array of coastal and ocean environmental issues. Management of these rapidly changing environments requires a whole-system perspective that includes integration of all available knowledge of the ecology, chemistry, and physics of estuaries. Yet estuarine research has been primarily short-term and site-specific, providing few insights that can be generalized and applied to a broader understanding of these complex ecosystems. Estuarine Science addresses that problem by presenting examples of synthetic approaches to estuarine science. Leading scientists-including Donald F. Boesch, W. Rockwell Geyer, Nancy Rabalais, Charles A. Simenstad, and many others-offer twelve chapters that report on different types of ecological synthesis and summarize the current state of scientific knowledge. Additional chapters examine the adequacy of existing synthesis, and the data and models required for improving the scientific management of estuaries in the coming decade.

Each of the book's five sections introduces a major area of estuarine syntheses; highlights key problems about that topic; reports case histories of successful synthesis; and recommends types of data to collect, processes to study, and models to build for a predictive understanding. Sections examine:

• inputs to estuaries of water, sediment, and nutrients from the drainage basin
• the coupling of estuarine physics with biogeochemistry and ecology
• the biogeochemical process in estuaries and their linkages to the food web
• controls on the distribution and abundance of organisms in the estuary
• the need for synthesis that would directly improve the scientific management of estuaries

Estuarine Science synthesizes what has been learned from the intensive research in many different estuarine projects around the country. It will be an essential work for professional scientists and graduate students working in coastal or estuarine research, as well as for managers, planners and environmentalists involved with coastal and estuarine issues. ... Read more

Book Description

This complete guide covers 317 of the most common and conspicuous plants and animals of the seashores, from jellyfish and kelp to clams, gulls, and whales. Species are grouped by habitat so readers know what they can expect to see along sandy beaches, in rocky tide pools, or in mud flats. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Detailed and well done guide to seashore animals.
This field guide to seashores is well explained, especially for beginners encouraged to learn more about the life in tidepools. The color illustrations are also nice and detailed. Buy this one before you start on the original official Peterson Field guides.
Recommened for beginning and intermediate learners. ... Read more

Book Description

A fascinating nature book filled with full-color photography of undersea wonders and detailed drawings that bring the scientific facts to life. Explore the mysteries of the deep and meet its amazing inhabitants-from microscopic plankton to the gigantic blue whale. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

As good as palaeontology gets! Sagan would be proud! A+
The late Carl Sagan thought that science should be "user-friendly," presented not in jargon but in regular English. He believed that the general public could -- and should -- have access to the latest scientific discoveries.

Sagan would be proud of _Planet Ocean._ The central theme of the book is stated clearly on page 1: "Nature is a workshop, not a temple." Matsen spends the rest of the book supporting this concept, explaining that life is not a stately, well-executed design where species climb a ladder of progress; rather, evolution is an inescapable and completely random condition. Animals and plants breed, have offspring that are slightly different, and continue to become slightly more different with each successive generation until the distant grandkids look nothing like the original parent. In addition, through totally weird, sometimes avoidable and sometimes unavoidable circumstances, the species as a whole will either do very well, or get pushed out of the scene. The environment works like the stock market -- fortunes are made, and fortunes are lost. (The metaphor of "rolling the dice" comes up more than once.)

Matsen's prose is engaging, entertaining, and extremely informative. In one of my favorite sections, he describes the success of the trilobites (who survived for 300 million years in Earth's oceans):

"They would eat anything and breed anywhere, and they made themselves as unattractive to predators as possible. We all have relatives like them. From [trilobites] and their success and longevity, an evolutionary rule of thumb has emerged: 'The more specialized a species, the less able to cope with change it will be once the inevitable happens and old habitats change beyond the point of recognition' [...]. In other words, generalists usually outlast specialists, and evolutionary progress is not necessarily a matter of refinement. [...] Ninety percent of success is just showing up. Ask an arthropod, like a trilobite or a cockroach. [...] Generalism won't get you to Carnegie Hall with your cello, but a cockroach doesn't need a cello." (p. 14).

This conversational tone is used throughout the book, and it really works. Matsen's prose reminds one of an after-class discussion with a very generous, patient biology teacher -- the kind you always wished you had, and didn't. Matsen takes otherwise very difficult subject matter and explains it in understandable terms that don't insult the intelligence of the reader. He even suggests amusing mnemonics to remember the order of epochs in the Palaezoic and Mesozoic eras ("Crying over sleeping dragons may puzzle people, terrify, (or) joyfully convert") as well as for the Cenozoic era ("Palaeontologists eat only murky plankton porridge hot").

Interwoven with the education that Matsen offers is the story of his and artist Ray Troll's voyage of discovery. Brad and Ray actually travelled to many of the sites discussed in the book, and the little personal touches -- Brad's vision of the Cretacious sea as they drove across Kansas, Ray's discovery and naming of a totally new species of pterasaur, and the fishing trips enjoyed by both -- really draw in the reader. One becomes intimate with the friendly voice, the casual, personal stories, and history of life on Earth.

Not to be missed, of course, is the wonderful art. Ray Troll is a meticulous artist, and his offbeat sense of humor is perfectly in place with the spirit of the book. For example, his illustration of a lungfish's hesitant voyage out of water is captioned, "Out of the ooze and born to cruise." Not to be missed are his "ads" for a wrist watch that measures geologic time; Burgess Brand Primordial Soup; and that great French wine, Chateau Mosasaur. Doodles, sketches, and highly detailed pastel paintings are strewn throughout, and they are worth the price of the book by themselves. (Interested readers can preview some of Ray's art at his homepage, www.trollart.com)

This book is an excellent introduction to evolution, palaeontology, marine biology, and/or marine science. Alternately light and serious, one is sorry to finish the book. It -- like the 650 million year history it encapsulates -- is such a joy to experience. Highly recommended.

Evolution gets its start
Brad Matsen and Ray Troll's "Planet Ocean" is a lively swim through the fossil record, beginning at the beginning 650 million years ago in the watery depths.

Troll's whimsical illustrations accompany Matsen's humorously accessible explanations of what we've learned - and think we've learned - from the earliest fossils. Matsen traces evolution from the primordial soup to the first colonies of multicellular organisms to the ubiquitous trilobytes- "the most diverse and successful animals on Planet Ocean until the Permian extinction claimed the last of them."

He discusses the engineering that went into chambers (the nautilus) and hard shells and the arrival of backbones and speculates (with the experts) on the role of extinctions in evolution, including our own.

Although he sometimes demolishes or supports theories without sufficient scientific explanation, Matsen's watery perspective is well-organized and refreshing and Troll's drawings and paintings are as likely to be detailed and informative as they are fanciful and quirky.

A beautiful, well-written view of past life in the ocean!
This book was a pleasure to read- even though it was mostly facts (and this is coming from a teenager)!Sure, I love learning about evolution and fossils, but I rarely sit down to read long, boring books about it.But this book is fresh, colorful, full of information, and INTERESTING!!!I congratulate the author and illustrator for putting out such a masterpiece!It is sure to recruit paleontologists for the next generation! ... Read more

Book Description

This Fifth Edition of OCEANOGRAPHY conveys Garrison's enthusiasm for oceanography to non-science students and concentrates on maximizing student learning. Drawing on his more than thirty years of teaching experience, Garrison is intent on writing for how students learn best: he is the only oceanography author to consistently consult students about each new edition and incorporate their suggestions, creating a dynamic, current student focus. He provides students with a basic understanding of the scientific questions, complexities, and uncertainties involved in ocean use. Also, with a feel for students' excitement at discovering connections, Garrison increases the emphasis in this edition on the interdisciplinary nature of marine science, stressing its links to biology, chemistry, geology, physics, meteorology, astronomy, ecology, history, and economics. To further enrich the student experience, this edition is now fully integrated, on a concept level and with book-specific interactivities, with a FREE brand-new, student tutorial system called OceanographyNow. OceanographyNow is Web-based, assessment-driven, and completely flexible, offering a personalized learning plan based on each student's quiz results to help students focus on the concepts they don't yet understand. Enhanced illustrations, seamless integration of online resources, and a rich suite of student resources (with an optional regional emphasis) complete the Garrison learning experience. As part of the ADVANTAGE SERIES, this looseleaf version of Garrison?s standard text offers all the quality content you've come to expect from Tom Garrison, in a format available to your students at a significantly lower price."This text is a must for any student searching for a detailed, yet easy to understand introduction to science."- Tanya Johnson, President of Associated Students at Skyline College, on Garrison's OCEANOGRAPHY. ... Read more

Book Description

The United States is about to embark on the most thorough reconsideration of its ocean policy in more than three decades. With 1998 designated as the International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations, and with both the executive branch and the Congress currently working toward developing new approaches to formulating and implementing ocean policy, a comprehensive overview of key issues and concerns is essential.

The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy provides such an overview, with an in-depth analysis of the evolution of U.S. ocean policy and a timely discussion of the most important ocean and coastal issues facing the nation. The book assesses the current status of ocean policy, examines national and international trends, and considers choices for policymakers in the 21st century. Following an introductory chapter that reviews national ocean policy and the process by which it is made, the authors:

• review the history of development of U.S. ocean and coastal policy
• examine the major ocean laws enacted in the 1970s and review and assess their record of implementation
• examine factors that will affect U.S. ocean policy in the coming decade
• discuss the need to make policy more coherent, and to develop institutional mechanisms that can foster more effective guidance and oversight
• present a set of policy options for improving U.S. ocean policy

The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy is the only recent book that focuses on national ocean policy in its entirety, and will play an important role in upcoming debates concerning the future direction of policy initiatives. Agency personnel, members and staff of nongovernmental organizations, industry groups, Congressional staffers, state and local government officials, academics, and concerned citizens will find the book an invaluable guide, as will students and faculty in courses in marine and coastal management and in environmental management. ... Read more

Book Description

Northwestern 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

Terry Glavin sheds light on the mysteries of the North Pacific Ocean - a place of cultural and ecological richness and complexity. The maritime history of the North Pacific is rife with apocryphal voyages, legendary armadas, lost colonies, and fabled portals through continents. Glavin also explores current ecological phenomena - huge phytoplankton blooms and dying birds and fish - and the significance of these events. The Last Great Sea is a thoroughly researched, beautifully written exploration of one of the world's most mysterious places. ... Read more

Book Description

A Place Between the Tides is an evocative mix of scientific observation and personal memories that captures the tremendous vitality and vulnerability of marshlands. For every nature writer there seems to be one special place that demonstrates the ways of the natural world and its relationship with humans. For Thoreau, it was a pond; for Annie Dillard, a creek; for author Harry Thurston, it is the salt marsh where land meets sea, one of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth but one that is increasingly threatened. This is the story of Thurston's return to the beloved environment of his boyhood. Elegantly moving back and forth in time, and deftly interweaving a naturalist's observations with a personal journey, he describes the seasons of the marsh over two decades. Altogether, Thurston documents more than 100 species of fish, birds, and mammals, a myriad of creatures hiding in tidal pools, and 70 species of plants. ... Read more

Book Description

Meteorology, physical oceanography, biology, ecology, economics and political science all play a role in this broadly interdisciplinary module. Also included is a simple computer game that allows students to test the impacts of climatic and economic variables on the fish population. ... Read more

Book Description

Sharks have been a source of continuing terror and fascination to mankind from time immemorial. In the forty-two selections in this book, there is probably more information about sharks, their species, the seas in which they live, and their relationship with humans than has ever been gathered in the pages of one volume. This book includes the adventures and discoveries of scientists like William Beebe and Eugenie Clark, personal experiences of survivors of shark encounters, legends from Polynesia and the Indian Sea, shark-fishing stories, and tales of adventure from other parts of the world.The observations and personal encounters collected here will enthrall readers time and time again.

"Great Shark Writings is part of the Taylors' ongoing crusade to reduce myth to fact, to tell the truth about sharks. If some of the tales seem fantastic, don't dismiss them: they are all true. One of the book's many virtues is that the Taylors have demonstrated that the truth about sharks is spectacular enough. Sharks don't need a boost from fiction."--Peter Benchley ... Read more

Amazon.com

In a book first published in 1959 and now reissued in an anniversary edition, John Hay, the nature-writing laureate of Cape Cod, ponders one of the great curiosities of nature in those parts. The mystery in question is the annual migration of the alewife, a kind of herring that behaves in this respect much like the salmon, moving at infancy from the freshwater lakes of New England into the cold Atlantic Ocean and thence back to the waters of its birth. The journey, Hay writes, is oddly heroic, and it comes at great cost: some 90 percent of the adult alewives do not survive the arduous move from ocean to stream. Hay's prose, too, is oddly enchanting, given that his subject is a fish--and a none-too-lovely one at that. No matter, for Hay describes the alewife as "a life that shone with vibrant persistence, one of nature's particularized energies, a wild texture as old as the animal world, a food that was the beneficent matter of all struggle and greed." His pages ring with such fish-born poetry as he recounts the life cycle of the alewife from wriggling larva to adult. The migration of this intriguing fish, he concludes, "is not only a matter of routes or seasonal behavior. It has to do with an internal response to this spinning globe and its unendingly creative energies." That creative energy nicely describes the spirit of this slender study, as well as Hay's other fine books. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Sublime and enchanting
Sublime and enchanting is how John Hay has the reader feeling. It is truly a superb book, well written and thoughtful as well as thought provoking.

A superb literary presentation on a marvel of nature
I first read this book in the early 1970s when I was conducting my Ph.D. thesis research, which dealt with the migratory behavior of a fish called the alewife, also known as river herring.Alewife are like small, silvery salmon.About 10 inches long, they migrate into small streams and riversalong the East Coast in the spring to spawn, and the juveniles then migrateto the ocean in the fall, where they live for four or five years beforereturning to their home stream to spawn.John Hay captures the mystery anddelight of an alewife run.Unlike salmon runs that occur in large riverswhere the fish can't be seen, alwife migrate into many very small streams,many of which pass through towns and under old mills, such that the fishare readily visible to people.To see thousands of fish stacked up at thebase of a dam, knowning that they had traveled thousands of miles in theAtlantic for years before finding their way back to the location wheretheir life began as an egg, is almost incredible.John Hay describes theessence of the alewife in a very informative but tremendously readablestyle.This is a must read for anyon who enjoys fine writing and has aninterest in the natural world. ... Read more

Book Description