Book Description

This third edition of Fish Nutrition is a comprehensive treatise on nutrient requirements and metabolism in major species of fish used in aquaculture or scientific experiments. It covers nutrients required and used in cold water, warm water, fresh water, and marine species for growth and reproduction. It also highlights basic physiology and biochemistry of the nutrients and applications of these principles to scientific and practical diet formulations and to manufacturing techniques for major species used worldwide in aquaculture.

*Nutrient requirements for dietary formulations for fish farming
*Digestive physiology
*Comparative nutritional requirements of different species
*Fish as unique animals for certain metabolic pathways ... Read more

Book Description

Although the science of aquaculture has been around for centuries, it has only recently attained popularity. This textbook introduces a wide spectrum of aquaculture-related subjects. Topics covered include the history of aquaculture, water quality and sources, culture systems, economics, law, engineering, chemistry, biology and more. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

intro to aquaculture
a great book to get a foot in the door in the aquaculture industry. i am currently an aquaculture student in western australia and as some of my lecturers call it, it is the bible for aquaculture students. A must have. ... Read more

Book Description

This book will be an edited volume in which specialists will be invited to write chapters on the major river basins and regions of North America.The introduction will cover general aspects of geology, hydrology, ecology and human impacts on rivers.The book will consist of 21 chapters on the major basins.The chapters will include 3-5 featured rivers of the basin/region as well as 3-7 other rivers to be described in contrast, ina one-page format.Rivers slected for coverage will include the largest, the most natural and the most affected by human impact.

The book will also include a seperate section of color photographs of key river basins and important features of those basins.

A major theme of the book will be the ability to compare one system to another in terms of its physiography, hydrology, ecology, biodiversity and human impacts

* Extensive treatment provides a single source of information for North Americas major rivers
* Regional specialists provide the most authoritative information available
* Full color photographs and topographical maps demonstrate the beauty, major features, and uniqueness of each river system
* One-page summaries make finding key statistics easy and enables comparisons among rivers ... Read more

Book Description

The first and only book on sea turtles written for the general reader! With over 60 breathtaking color photographs, Sea Turtles is part of the acclaimed WorldLife Library series from Voyageur Press.

Jeff Ripple profiles every species of sea turtle from the loggerhead to the leatherback. Readers learn sea turtles' general characteristics, how they navigate under water, who their predators are, what human threats exist, and where conservation efforts are being made worldwide.

The spectacular photographs capture these popular creatures under water and on land. Readers of many ages will enjoy exploring the world of the sea turtle in this engaging book.

Also recommended: Sperm Whales, Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, Blue Whales, Seals & Sea Lions, Penguins, Alligators & Crocodiles, Sharks, Bottlenose Dolphins, Porpoises.

Discover the world's animals in the WorldLife Library from Voyageur Press. This highly acclaimed series brings you the latest research from leading naturalists, along with stunning color photographs of your favorite animals. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great, quick reference
This book is amazingly detailed for its size. It's an ideal quick reference with fabulous photographs. If you want to learn about sea turtles with plenty of basic facts (quite a few!) and photos but not an excess of science, this is the one for you. Perfect for the layman's library.

Comprehensive book, well written text, excellent photos
This is a wonderfully comprehensive book on the characteristics, life and hazards facing sea turtles. The well written text truly gives the reader a feel for what life is like for a sea turtle.

Facts covered include ancestry, feeding, growth, navigation, migration, mating & nesting. Then there are sections on the 8 major species of sea turtles describing the distinctive features of each.

The photos are terrific, with many great underwater shots of these graceful and powerful swimmers. There are also nesting turtles and adorable hatchlings. A number of conservation efforts are shown as well.

A major focus of the book is the threats facing these endangered species, with numbers diminished by decades of hunting, natural predators and environmental decline. Hopeful efforts are underway to reverse this trend. ... Read more

Book Description

The effects of disturbed ecosystems, from devastating algal blooms to the loss of whale populations, have demonstrated the vulnerability of the oceans' biodiversity. Conservation of marine systems requires knowledge from many different fields in order to understand the complex interactions that threaten those systems. Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation provides a method of learning how these systems function, determining how natural and human actions have put them in peril and how we can best influence the marine world in order to maintain biodiversity. The difficulties of research and experimentation in the oceans make computer modeling particularly helpful for marine conservation. Modeling also enables scientists to communicate their findings with managers and others concerned with putting their ideas into practice. The book will demonstrate dynamic modeling through the use of the STELLA modeling program and case studies from marine conservation. After a section devoted to the concepts and tools needed to model marine systems, each chapter introduces background information about a key topic in marine conservation, presents an appropriate model, and discusses the results and implications. Contributors bring a wide range of expertise and experience to a selection of models relevant to real-world conservation problems. All models and a run-time version of the STELLA software are included with the book on a CD-ROM, which is compatible with both Macintosh and Window platforms. ... Read more

Book Description

For the past twenty-five years, Alexandra Morton has been at the forefront of whale and dolphin research, dedicating her life to the study of orcas (also known as killer whales). Now in Listening to Whales, Morton shares the spellbinding story of her career, her adventures in the wilderness, the heartbreak she has endured, and the rewards of living her life on her own terms.

Born into an artistic family in Connecticut, Morton experienced a seismic jolt when at age twelve she first read the work of primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall and knew she wanted to study wild animals. Soon afterward, listening for the first time to orcas communicating with each other, she knew she had found her life work. In the late 1970s, while working at California’s Marineland, Alexandra pioneered the recording of whale sounds by dropping a hydrophone into the tank of two killer whales. She recorded the varied language of mating, childbirth, and even grief after the birth of a stillborn calf. At the same time she made the startling observation that the whales were inventing and perfecting wonderful synchronized movements, a behavior that was soon recognized as a defining characteristic of orca society.

In 19784, Alexandra moved with her husband, photographer Robin Morton, to a remote bay in British Columbia to continue her research with wild orcas. For a few idyllic years, Alexandra and Robin shared their passion for whales, cruising the green northern waters and raising a baby boy. But tragedy struck when Robin died in a terrible accident. Only the love of her son and her abiding dedication to whale research gave Alexandra the strength to continue her groundbreaking work. Her recordings of the whales that swim by her house have led her to a deeper understanding of the mystery of whale echolocation, the vocal communication that enables the mammals to find their way in the dark sea. She continues to be among the renowned researchers attempting to break down the barriers of interspecies communication.

At once an inspiring story of a woman’s determination to live her life on her own terms and a fascinating study of the profound communion between humans and whales, this book will open your eyes anew to the wonders of the natural world. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Eyes of the Raincoast
This is the autobiography (so far) of whale researcher Alexandra Morton who came to the remote Broughton Archipelago in 1984 to study orcas and was herself woven by nature into the warp and woof of that amazing place. While telling a fascinating story the book imparts a great deal of knowledge in so painless a manner that we hardly notice. We learn, for example, that there are three kinds of orcas: "residents," who eat mostly fish; "transients" who eat mostly seals and sea lions; and "offshores" who--nobody knows for sure--may well eat mostly sharks. Though whales, both captive and free, are the stars of this story, the real star is the Broughton itself with its myriad islands and channels, its sunny summer breezes and howling winter storms. With so few people living in the Broughton, the BC government pillages its islands with clearcuts, and both levels of government cooperate to pollute its waters with open netcage salmon farms. Courageous residents fight a running battle to protect the wild coast and wild fish they love from the blindness of bureaucrats and the greed of multinational corporations. This wonderful story, which is all true, will make you cry for the ocean, and at the same time renew your hope in the power of courageous people to change the world. If you have a kayak, go and paddle through the Broughton that Alexandra and her friends are fighting to save for us. You might even be able to help.

a Love Story
I am very moved by the love and courage of Alexandra Morton. She is a paragon of free spirits, living out the dream many of us only fantasize but dare not pursue--living on a boat to follow the whales on waves. Not only she portrays the fascinating orcas with delightful insights, she also writes about her later romance and boat-life with her documentary photographer husband Robin and their baby on the boat. It's beautiful and loving account, which makes his later accident even more sorrowful and tragic, not just for her but for all of us and whales too. From this book you will be absorbed by the orcas' ways of communication and intelligence, as well as the life on the Vancouver waters and islands. After you read this book, you will look at those captured dolphines and whales and Seaworld or zoos very differently. Alexandra writes with clarity and love.

If you love the natural world, you'll love this book
Alexandra Morton writes with both her head and her heart. I read about her in a magazine and checked her book out from the library. I have purchased 5 copies to give at Christmas, knowing without a doubt that each recipient will love her story and appreciate what they will have learned. Well written with scientific knowledge embedded in a wonderful life story.

She taught me a lot!
Being a whale lover, I'm always fascinated with killer whales. Reading this book made me want to explore killer whale pods in my own home country in Indonesia (we also have them!). She's very good in weaving scientific information to popular readings, and I think that's one of Morton's unique strength.

Indeed, Morton has taught this silly marine mammal student to understand more of the marine mammal life, and their relations to our life as humans.

a Love Story
I am very moved by the love, the courage and the discipline of Alexandra Morton. She is a paragon of free spirits, living out the dream many of us only fantasize but dare not pursue--living on a boat to follow the whales on waves. Not only she portrays the fascinating orcas with delightful insights, she also writes about her later romance and boat-life with her documentary husband Robin and their baby on the boat. It's beautiful and loving account, which makes his later accident even more sorrowful and tragic, not just for her but for all of us and whales too. From this book you will be absorbed by the orcas' ways of communication and intelligence, as well as the life on the Vancouver waters and islands. After you read this book, you will look at those captured dolphines and whales and Seaworld or zoos very differently. Alexandra writes with clarity and love. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not for you if you just want to know "what is this?"
This book is really geared more toward the academic. I would not find it useful as a field guide, though it makes for fairly interesting biological reading. It is not laid out in a "field guide" fashion, with species listed and illustrations for each provided. It would be frustrating to take the kids to the beach at low tide and attempt to use this unless you are very well acquainted with your marine taxonomy. Most species are not identified by a common name, and the color plates and illustrations are not necessarily near the species text.
This book reads as a textbook for students rather than a useful tool for laymen who just need to know what critter they just found under a rock, and want the information before the tide comes back in.

A great guide for someone who wants to see for themselves
Though published in the early 1980s, this book does a wonderful job of introducing the active naturalist to the nearshore marine life of the Pacific Northwest. This book includes good illustrations and photographs, descriptions of where marine flora and fauna live and what they do there. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go the seashore of the Pacific Northwest and figure out what they are looking at. Kozloff has been there and seen everything he's writing about. I use this book as my primary text when I take students to Puget Sound, Washington, for my marine ecology field course. A top notch field guide! ... Read more

Book Description

What's that purple stuff you and the kids always see at the edge of the water when you go to the beach? Is it okay to touch those gooey little creatures you always find in tidepools? And where's the best place along the coast to see bat stars? This book can tell you.The 274 most common animals and plants to be seen along the saltwater shores of the Pacific Northwest are described here-the ones that stay put and that cover great distances; the ones that hide and that love a party; the ones that look like rocks or feathers or blobs of jelly. Illustrating each entry is a full-colour photo of the species in its natural habitat, so that even the novice can identify it confidently - without disturbing it.There are special sections on great Pacific Northwest viewing sites for intertidal fife, ways to understand tides and choose the best times to look for beach wildlife, intertidal habitats ranging from sandy beaches to aging wharves to rocky, wave-swept shores, and ecologically friendly observation methods.Packed with expert information but wonderfully accessible to any interested layperson, this book is perfect for a family or a school group, a Saturday beachwalker or a naturalists' club. The species described here include sponges, clams, snails, crabs, sea stars, sea anemones, jellies, fishes, seaweeds and others. This informative guide was written to be both accurate and easy to understand. Details for each plant or animal include; description, habitat, range, additional notes and more. Many intertidal sites found in the Pacific Northwest are also featured in this guide. Additional information found here include tidal actions, intertidal habitats, and environmentally friendly beachcombing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A perfect field guide
I highly recommend this book. It's a great first stop for identifying tide pool creatures of the Pacific Northwest (specifically Washington, Oregon, Vancouver Island, and the San Juans). If you are hoping for a simple, straightforward guide that covers a broad range of critters, this is the book for you. You can count on this guide for good pictures, both common and scientific names, and a few interesting facts about each animal (and algae).

As a marine naturalist, I use this guide more than any other when I'm talking to people at the beach and have found that both adults and children find it helpful and interesting.

If you're hoping for a more in-depth guide with more detailed scientific information, I recommend Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast by Kozloff (in addition to this book). ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers a carefully balanced, stimulating survey of marine ecology that introduces the key processes and systems that form the marine environment and examines the issues and challenges which surround its future conservation. Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts is ideal for undergraduate courses in marine biology or marine ecology.An Instructor's Manual is available to adopters. BLEmploys many examples from around the world to put concepts and issues in a real-world context BLPresents detailed case studies throughout the text BLContains numerous full-color illustrations ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

A Glimpse at Nature's Wonders
From time to time, Safina does tend to anthropomorphize, but it does make the book more accessible. And at other times he steps back just a little too far from the role he has written for himself. But there is nothing else to criticize in this excellent book.

Five hours northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands by propjet there are series of islands and atolls that are the breeding grounds of tens of thousands of sea birds. Of the many species of birds that breed there, the largest, the one that must be wrapped in the most superlatives, is the Laysan Albatross. And one Laysan Albatross, that Safina names Amelia, is the principle subject and unifying thread of this book.

From Coelridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" to the horrifying pollution of our ocean, Amelia is the eye through which we view her astonishing world. Amelia is tagged with a small satellite transmitter, and Safina includes maps showing the travels Amelia makes to feed herself and her chick. The distances beggar the imagination. Through her eyes and her journeys, Safina touches on the host of issues and breathtaking wonders of the the fauna of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.

It's a tour de force, and I recommend it to you.

it soars
from the May 16, 2002 edition - [...]

By Colin Woodard

Humans and albatrosses have a lot in common. We both live for many decades, possibly a century. Our reproductive patterns are similar. Albatrosses take as long as 13 years to mature, engage in courtships that can last two years or more, and raise a single chick every other year (or three to four years for some species.) Albatrosses, like ourselves, are found from the Antarctic to the Far North and most places in between.

Of course, we spend our time on earth very differently. Albatrosses spend 95 percent of it at sea, usually in flight. They come ashore only to breed and nest, and even then they are constantly flying off on 2,000- to 3,000-mile foraging runs to collect each feeding for their chick. They can fly for many days without stopping, sleeping on the wing, wandering from tropical to subpolar seas in the course of a single foraging run.

Carl Safina wondered what we might learn about the world if we could see it from their perspective. Now, after shadowing these great birds by foot, ship, and satellite, he has painted a beautiful, awe-inspiring tableau of our world as you've never seen it: an interconnected universe of wind and waves, sun-blasted islands, teeming polar seas, broad-winged birds, and the far-reaching effects of civilization.

"Almost everything about the albatross is superlative and extreme," Safina writes. They're huge, with an 11-foot wingspan. Masters of long-distance flight, they use less energy soaring over a stormy sea than they do while sitting quietly on their nests. They endure equatorial heat and ferocious Arctic storms, sometimes on the same feeding trip. And they travel far: By 50 years of age, a typical albatross has logged nearly 4 million miles.

Tracking them, Safina journeys to beaches covered with egg-laying sea turtles, crystalline Pacific waters filled with prowling tiger sharks, and island tern colonies so vast they're likened to "a white-noise cyclone of sound."

But today, albatrosses' lives are tangled up with those of humans. Though their world is far removed from civilization, they're inundated with pesticides, antibiotics, and hormone mimics. They swallow bottle caps and cigarette lighters, become entangled in drift nets, or drown after seizing one of the millions of baited hooks dragged behind fishing vessels every year.

"Eye of the Albatross" relates some unforgettable scenes. At one point, Safina watches an albatross chick feeding from the mouth of its mother, just back from a 2,000-mile foraging trip. The chick gulps down globs of regurgitated squid and fish eggs, but then the mother has difficulty retching up the next serving. "Slowly, the tip - just the tip - of a green plastic toothbrush emerges from the bird's throat," a sight Safina describes as "one of the most piercing things I've ever experienced." The mother, unable to pass this bit of trash, wanders away from her squawking chick.

The lesson, Safina writes, is that there are no longer any places on earth unaffected by man. "No matter what coordinates you choose, from waters polar to solar coral reefs, to the remotest turquoise atoll - no place, no creature remains apart from you and me."

Fortunately, in some places people are starting to correct the situation. Safina visits Midway Atoll, where the military accidentally introduced rats, which bred voraciously and extinguished entire nesting colonies. But since control of Midway passed to the National Wildlife Service, the rats have been eradicated, and the birds are recovering. In Alaska, Safina goes to sea with Mark Lundsten, a commercial fisherman leading the effort to save albatrosses from hooks. Lundsten has found a simple and cost-effective way to reduce albatross mortality by 90 percent with a combination of weights and streamers.

Safina, who earned a PhD studying seabirds, established himself as a leading voice in marine conservation with his first book, "Song for the Blue Ocean," which drew attention to the environmental catastrophe unfolding beneath the waves. "Eye of the Albatross" is an eloquent sequel, a moving depiction of how interconnected life on this planet truly is.

• Colin Woodard is author of 'Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas' (Basic).

from the May 16, 2002 edition - [...]

Good Air Days
BOOK REVIEW
Good air days
Carl Safina's portrait of a seabird named Amelia
By Bill McKibben, 9/15/2002
Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival
By Carl Safina
Henry Holt, 377 pp., illustrated.
Until very recently, Samuel Taylor Coleridge could have passed as a scientific authority on the albatross. We knew that they flew a long way, but beyond that the bird was basically an enigma.
No more. Working with field biologists who have begun strapping tiny global positioning units to the birds, Carl Safina has produced a truly magnificent biography of a single bird, Amelia, a Laysan albatross who nests on a small islet northwest of Hawaii. As it turns out, though, to call that islet her ''home'' would be a great exaggeration. As soon as her solitary chick is hatched, Amelia roams far and wide, 25,000 miles through a quadrant of the North Pacific that stretches from the tropics to the Aleutians, as she searches for food to carry home and regurgitate for her growing youngster.
And that is only the beginning. Albatrosses turn out to be remarkable in an almost uncountable number of ways. They are long-lived (the oldest banded birds are at least 60 years old - but it's hard to keep track because they tend to outlive researchers). They can commute in a matter of days between sunbaked equatorial waters and snow-filled Arctic skies without it causing them a problem. And, with wings that lock in place like a switchblade, they are most relaxed in the air. How relaxed? Safina says juveniles appear to ''fly continuously for five years'' before they land to make their first nesting attempts.
As with any great biography, Safina provides plenty of detail about the other creatures that populate Amelia's life. We learn of the monk seals that share her nesting island, of the tiger sharks that prowl its lagoons, of the squid that provide her diet, and of the small band of people that study her species, the academics and volunteers who spend five months at a stretch on these most remote specks of rock anywhere on earth. These are people so devoted that they arrive at the islands wearing clothes freshly pulled from the freezer lest they inadvertently bring ashore some alien grass or ant. It is, in a word, inspiring, a Jacques Cousteau special brought even more vividly to the printed page.
It is also, at times, very depressing. It almost goes without saying that something this beautiful and ancient is embattled. For a long time humans killed albatrosses and other seabirds on purpose, wiping out many species in the search for food. Now, we kill them mostly by accident, but in great numbers: They are pulled beneath the sea to drown when they go after bait attached to the hooks of long-lining fishermen; their nests are washed away when rising seas, pushed by global warming, sweep across their islets; and perhaps most insidiously, they are increasingly hard pressed to find food, perhaps because humans are mining so much of the oceans' protein. Our species already uses 40 percent of the earth's ''primary productivity,'' the plants and animals produced by the solar energy hitting our globe - this book brings home in stark fashion just what that number means.
Safina is no doomsayer, however. As the director of the Audubon Society's Living Oceans program, he has done as much as anyone save Cousteau to change our relationship with the aquatic world. Here he memorably describes a fishing trip in Alaskan waters with a skipper who has developed both strategies and attitudes necessary to prevent hooking the great birds - he and his crew share Safina's wonder in the face of the birds, and make it clear that much, though perhaps not enough, has changed with our species in the last century.
This book should accelerate that change, at least regarding albatrosses, for Safina's picture of the birds is one of the most delightful natural history studies in decades (and one of the most beautifully produced, with the maps and photos necessary for a complete understanding of the text). In the end, what sticks with you is less the birds' athletic feats, but their ... depth. Safina writes that these long-lived animals mate year after year with the same partner. In the first few years, their courtship is exuberant, filled with long and wild dancing sessions meant to demonstrate commitment and fitness. As the years go on, however, and the pair become used to each other, the language of courtship is stripped down to a lovely, regular preening. He describes one pair sitting on the beach ''for many long minutes, nibbling tenderly around each other's faces, taking turns preening each other with extraordinary gentleness, each bird soaking it up as though this is the greatest luxury. ... You sense that is immensely pleasurable for them - something anyone who has ever been tenderly touched would recognize.'' Much the same could be said of this tender, touching volume.
Bill McKibben is a visiting scholar at Middlebury College and the author of ''The End of Nature.''
This story ran on page E8 of the Boston Globe on 9/15/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

Flying Around the World
I found Carl Safina's latest work superb. The passages where the reader explores the sea with the eyes and nose of the albatross are the high points for this reader.You're there, out at sea, hunting with that bird. Only a creative book written by a scientist who writes like a dream could take a person into the body and experience of such a magnificent creature.

More than just winging it
As a vice-president of Audubon, the founder of their Living Oceans program, a contributor on fishery management policy-making, the author of SONG FOR THE BLUE OCEAN, and an early life as a fisherman, Carl Safina is certainly not simply "winging it" when it comes to discussing oceans and their environmental health.

This book is beautifully written and is a passionate call for us to care for our oceans. It offers all the following: natural history, study of a bird species, travelogue, environmental science, oceanography, cultural and economic commentary, and finally, a geography and history lesson. Starting where he always does, Safina begins with a focus on his main interest - the huge ecosystem that is the worlds oceans. We take the perspective of the masters of the oceanic skies - the albatross - and Safina is creative in using a tagged and satellite-tracked individual bird "Amelia" to give us a unique look through the EYE OF THE ALBATROSS.

Safina is somewhat of a romantic visionary and has a gift for the poetic phrase. The images however are not all about beautiful seascapes, tropical islands and exotic ports-of-call. Hardly. His description of a feeding scene between a mother albatross and her chick at a nesting colony is literally gut-wrenching. After being fed by its parent on regurgigated squid "the chick begs for more. The adult arches her neck and retches again. Nothing comes". Although Safina has a penchant for criticizing human economics and uses this case to do so, we can't help but see his point as he continues. "Slowly comes the surreal sight of a green plastic toothbrush emerging from the bird's gullet. With her neck arched, the mother cannot fully pass the straight brush. She tries several times to disgorge it, but can't." The economic message from the perspective of the albatross seems to be that "consumer culture permeates every watery point on the compass."

There is no doubt that the intention of this book is to evoke emotions that will bring about action to ameliorate environmental conditions. To that extent Safina is a scrupulous scientist and he makes us sit up and take note when he says that in addition to the 80 million tons of sea creatures that fishing annually harvests from the worlds oceans, there is a further 20 million tons of "unwanted" fish, seabirds, and marine mammals that gets "thrown overboard, dead." Safina was instrumental in banning drift-nets and is now working to make fishing grounds "sea-bird-safe". He and others are proposing changes in long-line fishing. In Alaska alone 14,000 sea birds are lost annually when they drown after swallowing baited hooks and get entangled in the nets. A change such as dyeing the bait so that birds can't see it would seem to be a fairly straightforward solution. The labyrinth official, diplomatic, and political obstacle course that must be navigated however means that nothing is simple.

Safina is a steady advocate for change and remains optimistic. He keeps us soaring with our bird guide. Why not, as "almost everything about the albatross is superlative and extreme." We learn that they can live for more than fifty years and over a lifetime can log about four million miles flying. They routinely go on 2,000 mile foraging trips. Wandering is not only the name of the largest of the species (diomedea exulans) it is also the most appropriate adjective to describe these wondrous birds. They can be found from the Antarctic to the far north and frequently fly through both tropical and frigid north Atlantic stormy skies in a single voyage.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable journey and an environmentally educational experience with a unique birds-eye view written by an artistic wordsmith. ... Read more

Book Description

Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse habitats inthe world, host to an extraordinary variety of marine plants and animals. Theyare also one of the world's most fragile and endangered ecosystems. The growthof mass tourism, combined with the boom in popularity of scuba diving, hasbrought these spectacular ecosystems to public attention across the planet.Coral reefs provide essential fish habitat, support endangered and threatenedspecies, and harbor protected marine mammals and turtles. They are a significantsource of food, provide income and employment through tourism and marinerecreation, and offer countless other benefits to humans, including supplyingcompounds for pharmaceuticals. Yet coral reefs around the world are rapidlybeing degraded by a number of human activities, such as overfishing, coastaldevelopment, and the introduction of sewage, fertilizer, and sediment.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs provides the first detailed and definitive account ofthe current state of our planet's coral reefs. With its wealth of authoritativeand up-to-date information, the finest maps available, and detailed descriptivetexts and images by leading experts, this full-color volume will be a criticalresource for anyone interested in these vital environments.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs contains eighty four full-page newly researched anddrawn color maps, together with more than two hundred color photos illustratingreefs, reef animals, and images taken from space by NASA astronauts during the2000 and 2001 space shuttle flights. The authors provide a wealth of informationon the geography, biodiversity, and human uses of coral reefs, as well asdetails about the threats to their existence.

Prepared at the UNEPÐWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, England- -the United Nations office responsible for providing authoritative informationon the condition of global biodiversity--the Atlas will be a critical tool forscientists, students, policymakers, and planners at local, national, andinternational levels alike.

Publication of the World Atlas of Coral Reefs is supported by internationalinstitutions includingthe United Nations Environment Programme; The MarineAquarium Council, The International Coral Reef Initiative; ICLARM--The WorldFish Center; the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, and the AventisFoundation. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A groundbreaking (waterbreaking?) achievement!
As the author of books about the ocean, I've read a lot of other books and articles about coral reefs. This is by far the best and most thorough book of its kind. Want to know what conditions are like on the Great Barrier Reef system? Around the Red Sea? Off Sulawesi? This is the place to go for answers. With wonderful maps and easy-to-understand text, it's destined to become the standard reference for divers, marine biologists and armchair adventurers who just want to learn more about this precious and fascinating ecosystem.

Beautiful
A truly beautiful book, although I expected the pictures to be larger. There is not one full page photo in the book unfortunately. It would really enhance the book to have some of those lovely photos blown up full page.

Beautiful
I bought this for my daughter, a graduating Biologist, but it was so fascinating that I'm afraid she got a slightly used book. It covers all coral reefs anywhere in the world. The maps are superb, as are the color photographs of the reefs. Each reef had a discussion of conditions in the reef, and the life that grows there. It's a huge book but one starts wishing for more; more maps, more photos, more detail. Maybe in the next edition, but meanwhile we can enjoy this superb book just as it. ... Read more

Book Description

This wondrous tour of coral reefs will thoroughly delight young children. Dr. Earle’s brief, informative text and Wolcott Henry’s dazzling close-up photographs introduce boys and girls to 12 different fish that dwell in the waters surrounding the reefs. Enchanting gobies pop out at the camera, jewel-like damselfish glimmer, a spotted stingray glides through the deep. Meeting these creatures eye to eye as they glide through clumps of coral, children will marvel at the teeming life in these underwater realms—and will be eager to explore them further.

Reviews (1)

Fabulous book for kids of all ages!
The splendid underwater photos in this book bring kids face to face with a variety of coral reef fish including comical clown fish, valiant damselfish and shy gobies. Even little kids love it. Our 17 month-old made me read it five times yesterday! For older kids, the simple but rich text gives a sense of each fish's personality. Highly recommended - Sylvia Earle and Wolcott Henry have masterfully crafted a book that educates while entertaining and engaging the imagination of readers of all ages. ... Read more

Book Description

WARNING: THIS BOOK INCLUDES EXPLICIT PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE INJURIES DONE TO MEN AND WOMEN WHEN SHARKS ATTACK!

Biggest of all fish and the best equipped for hunting, sharks live in every ocean. They are threatened by no natural predator except the killer whale. Built like torpedoes, they possess an extraordinary physiology that includes eight incredibly developed sensory organs and a set of jaws whose extensibility, power, and teeth are unrivaled in the animal kingdom. Their tenacity for staying alive is impressive. Gaffed, shot, harpooned, ripped open, they are still capable of moving about and tearing apart their victims. And they have existed unchanged for 350 million years.

Little wonder that they are the stuff of movies, books, and nightmares. Little wonder that through the fear that surrounds them, fact has been confused with fiction.

The Jaws of Death is a book that documents the truth about sharks and-through the examination of case histories-about gruesome shark attacks on man. Also read about how sharks are essential to the equilibrium of the marine biotope and how sharks are the only animals that have undergone virtually no evolutionary changes in millions of years. Learn about the fascinating history and physiology of sharks, and discover the many uses of sharks in science and medicine.

Other jaws of death are included as well: Is piranhas' viciousness a myth or reality? And what of the killer whale and crocodiles? And are barracudas innocent animals unjustly accused-or are they, too, jaws of death? ... Read more

Reviews (9)

One word: Captivating
The Jaws of Death was an amazing book. For all the techincal information on the animal's biology, I found it to be an easy read. Although, I'm probably bias, because I've always found sharks to be interesting.

Maniguet gives countless examples of shark attacks, and then explains why the shark might have attacked. It's a nice insight into their thinking. Numerous diagrams of the shark's anatomy help with explaining the complex sensory organs. They are absoluting incredible!

This is a great book for anyone who is really intrigued by these beautiful animals. Even if you don't find them to be the most amazing creatures, you will after flipping through this book.

Great book
Maniguet covers just about every aspect of sharks, and from a perspective of human contact. One long chapter covers shark attacks on humans, while the rest of the book covers anatomy, behaviour, and human interface, with some attacks interspersed. The book is technical in parts, but not too much so. I was looking for a factual book on sharks and shark attacks, not sensational but not boring, and this was perfect.

A Must Read
This book is one of the best I've been able to find on sharks, and I could not put it down! I must have read it over three times already just to remember all the information it contains!

It has detailed pictures and information on shark anatomy, favored myths about sharks, factual accounts of shark attacks, some information on other animals such as crocs and killer whales, and xavier puts forth several facts and theories about shark behavior. In the back it also contains an encyclopedia of sharks.

This is not a book for those with weak stomachs, since the pictures are very graphic of those attacked by sharks, even though most of which were only 'investigative bites'(and people get struck by lightning more often than attacked by sharks).

Since it was originally copyrighten in 1991, there are one or two new shark facts that are missing in this book(as opposed to the many facts that are usually missing in other shark books), but this is still the best for its time, and one of the best informative books for the present.

I would suggest this book for anyone deeply interested in sharks. It answers alot of questions and asks many other thought-provoking ones, keeping the reader hooked from cover to cover.

The jaws which held the readers captive.
Although known as the swimming death of the seas Xavier Maniguet ties to explain the truth about sharks. He also tries to close a gap between this perfect fitted animal and its status of a killer-machine. Especially by facing the reader with some horrifying photographs of human shark-attack victims. But the book also shows in a scientific and breathtaking way the other strange side of these misunderstood animals and let sharks not look like a man-eating machine but also as an important member in our ecosystem. For those who are really interested in sharks this paper is a MUST! And for me who faced a real Great White once in South Africa it is even more than that.

Horrible book-perpetuates myth of shark as "evil fish"
I can't believe this book was even published. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised since a lot of people who saw "Jaws" and eat shark fin soup are willing to believe that sharks are an evil fish, a "killing machine" just waiting to eat helpless swimmers. What a crock....for all of the research that real scientists have done on sharks, this book pretty much erases all of the work that they have done to show what sharks really are...the top of the food chain. NO, sharks to not EAT people. They mistake them for seals, sea lions, turtles. Let us not forget that WE are in THEIR ocean...not the other way around. Respect the animal and it will respect you! ... Read more

Book Description

In 1973, Carl Sagan published The Cosmic Connection, a daring view of the universe, which rapidly became a classic work of popular science and inspired a generation of scientists and enthusiasts. This seminal work is reproduced here for a whole new generation to enjoy. In Sagan's typically lucid and lyrical style, he discusses many topics from astrophysics and solar system science, to colonization, terraforming and the search for extraterrestrials. Sagan conveys his own excitement and wonder, and relates the revelations of astronomy to the most profound human problems and concerns: issues that are just as valid today as they were thirty years ago.New to this edition are Freeman Dyson's comments on Sagan's vision and the importance of the work, Ann Druyan's assessment of Sagan's cultural significance as a champion of science, and David Morrison's discussion of the advances made since 1973 and what became of Sagan's predictions. Who knows what wonders this third millennium will reveal, but one thing is certain: Carl Sagan played a unique role in preparing us for them. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Infectious enthusiasm
Carl Sagan's "The Cosmic Connection" is an enjoyable and easy-to-read survey of science and astronomy, circa 1973. Sagan's passion for his subjects comes through loud and clear in the essays that comprise this book. Reading this book is a little like watching "Cosmos" -- you're struck by the breadth of Sagan's knowledge and charmed by his imagination and wide-eyed enthusiasm for his topics. Sagan has a flair for making science accessible to the masses. He explores topics such as planetary exploration, the origins of life, and, of course, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Readers who liked "A Brief History of Time" will probably enjoy "The Cosmic Connection." The epilogue, which provides a year 2000 update for many of the chapters, is a valuable addition to this classic book.

Worth reading
Sure this isn't Sagans best book, it was one of his earliest. But its definitely a great read, full of profound thoughts.

Digressions? Yeah!
This book is a mix of thoughts by Carl Sagan, which he mainly dictated while crossing North America in a car. Well, it shows! It jumps from interesting paragraphs to useless personnal experiences, and the final result is a short text that is confusing, and (but that's not his fault) outdated. Read "Cosmos" and "Pale Blue Dot", they are much better.

The Musings of A Great Intellect
While it was first published over twenty five years ago and new scientific knowledge has rendered some of the "facts" and conclusions invalid, this book is still one that will fascinate you. For Sagan's writings are not about the knowledge of the moment but about grand, overwhelming ideas. Known to most people through his television appearances and his popular science books, he was a man with very impressive scientific credentials. A driving force in setting the priorities of planetary probes, his formidable intellect and powers of persuasion helped change the missions in many important ways.
Carl Sagan was a man deeply committed to the scientific method, the rule of reason and the exploration of space. His passion comes through very clearly in these essays, although he never descends to the level of being preachy. Towards the end of his life, he started to grow understandably pessimistic about the continued lack of exploration of the universe beyond the limits of the blue planet. Like so many of us, he is saddened by the lack of a vision that would drive the human race to establish an extraterrestrial presence beyond low Earth orbit.
Other issues that he deals with are the consequences of contact with another civilization and how we may recognize it when it occurs and what our response should be. These are very fundamental questions that the human race should consider. It is hard to imagine any other event that could have a more profound impact on how humans view themselves and their role in the cosmos. I agree with the premise of the Star Trek movie "First Contact", where the first contact with an extraterrestrial unites humanity in a way never before thought possible.
Humans will always continue to examine our place in the grand scheme and what all of the immensity of the universe really means. As long as we continue to produce beings of the caliber of Carl Sagan, our future is a bright one. His intellect and ability to excite were both first rate and I do not know how anyone could read these essays and not be moved by the quality of his reasoning.

"Must" reading for all Sagan fans
The late Carl Sagan was one of the most popular, influential, and successful interpreters of astronomy to the American public. In 1973 he published "The Cosmic Connection". He offered a daring view of the universe and his seminal work became a classic of popular science, inspiring a generation of scientists and non-specialist general readers with an enthusiasm for all aspects of science in general, and astronomy in particular. Now Cambridge University Press has reissued a new edition of Sagan's influential book, enhanced with Freeman Dyson's commentary on Sagan's vision and on the importance of "The Cosmic Connection"; Ann Dryan's assessment of Sagan's cultural significance as a champion of science; and David Morrison's discussion of the advances made over the past 30 years and what became of Sagan's predictions. Carl Sagan's Cosmic Connection is "must" reading for all Sagan fans and anyone interested in how his views and predictions have held up over the past three decades of rapid advances in the science of astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. ... Read more

Book Description

Many marine mammals communicate by emitting sounds that pass through water. Such sounds can be received across great distances and can influence the behavior of these undersea creatures. In the past few decades, the oceans have become increasingly noisy, as underwater sounds from propellers, sonars, and other human activities make it difficult for marine mammals to communicate. This book discusses, among many other topics, just how well marine mammals hear, how noisy the oceans have become, and what effects these new sounds have on marine mammals. The baseline of ambient noise, the sounds produced by machines and mammals, the sensitivity of marine mammal hearing, and the reactions of marine mammals are also examined.
An essential addition to any marine biologist's library, Marine Mammals and Noise will be especially appealing to marine mammalogists, researchers, policy makers and regulators, and marine biologists and oceanographers using sound in their research. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Marine Mammals and Noise
This is and excellent book for the researcher, graduate student, or undergrad (with some physics under his or her belt), who wants to learn about the effects of underwater noise on marine mammals. Currently this topic is the focus of much interest and is one of the most active areas of marine mammology research. Richardson et al. do an excellent job explaining the technical information, and have organized the book chapters in a logical sequence. Most terms are explicitly defined and the use of technical jargon is kept to a minimum. This book is a must for any researcher, or student, in the field. ... Read more

Book Description

Combining rich historical detail and a harrowing, pulse-pounding narrative, Close to Shore brilliantly re-creates the summer of 1916, when a rogue Great White shark attacked swimmers along the New Jersey shore, triggering mass hysteria and launching the most extensive shark hunt in history.

During the summer before the United States entered World War I, when ocean swimming was just becoming popular and luxurious Jersey Shore resorts were thriving as a chic playland for an opulent yet still innocent era's new leisure class, Americans were abruptly introduced to the terror of sharks.In July 1916 a lone Great White left its usual deep-ocean habitat and headed in the direction of the New Jersey shoreline. There, near the towns of Beach Haven and Spring Lake-and, incredibly, a farming community eleven miles inland-the most ferocious and unpredictable of predators began a deadly rampage: the first shark attacks on swimmers in U.S. history.

For Americans celebrating an astoundingly prosperous epoch much like our own, fueled by the wizardry of revolutionary inventions, the arrival of this violent predator symbolized the limits of mankind's power against nature.

Interweaving a vivid portrait of the era and meticulously drawn characters with chilling accounts of the shark's five attacks and the frenzied hunt that ensued, Michael Capuzzo has created a nonfiction historical thriller with the texture of Ragtime and the tension of Jaws.From the unnerving inevitability of the first attack on the esteemed son of a prosperous Philadelphia physician to the spine-tingling moment when a farm boy swimming in Matawan Creek feels the sandpaper-like skin of the passing shark, Close to Shore is an undeniably gripping saga.

Heightening the drama are stories of the resulting panic in the citizenry, press and politicians, and of colorful personalities such as Herman Oelrichs, a flamboyant millionaire who made a bet that a shark was no match for a man (and set out to prove it); Museum of Natural History ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols, faced with the challenge of stopping a mythic sea creature about which little was known; and, most memorable, the rogue Great White itself moving through a world that couldn't conceive of either its destructive power or its moral right to destroy.

Scrupulously researched and superbly written, Close to Shore brings to life a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history. Masterfully written and suffused with fascinating period detail and insights into the science and behavior of sharks, Close to Shore recounts a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history with startling immediacy. ... Read more

Reviews (33)

JAWES Inspiring!
Michael Capuzzo has done a spectacular job of writing a truly entertaining as well as informative account of the 1916 New Jersey series of shark attacks. These attacks were used by author Peter Benchley to base his bestseller "Jaws" from. While a fan of both Jaws the book and movie both pale in comparison to Capuzzo's real-life account, this is honestly one of the best books I've read in quite some time. As for the other reviewers who complained about the "detail" used in the book these are obviously readers who were looking for strict blood, guts and schlock...for that type of reading stick to the tabloids, for an honest page-turning good read buy this book!

Interesting book proving truth is stranger than fiction
This book chronicles a spate of deadly shark attacks on the East Coast back in 1916. The attacks sparked such a panic that for a time the news of the killer shark pushed World War I off the front pages of US newspapers. The author does an admirable job of detailing the background of the area and the bloody events that left such an imprint on those who lived during the time. Once again, truth is stranger than fiction for who would have written a fictional book with a shark traveling up a creek and killing a young boy and man? This actually happened in 1916 wave of terror.

Read and beware the water....

FAR MORE RIVETING THAN JAWS
CLOSE TO SHORE provides a fascinating look at not only the first documented shark attacks in the history of the United States, it also provides a look at the culture of the Eastern Seaboard at the turn of the century. In a very wellwritten account, author Michael Capuzzo, recaps the beliefs of the day about open-sea swimming and sharks. He discusses the almost maniacal craze that possessed some to swim with sharks in order to prove that sharks were harmless and their own bizarre machismo.

Capuzzo also adds further flavor and perspective by discussing the norms of the day regarding swimming attire, the culture of New Jersey's nouveau riche, other news stories of the period and the limitations of the physicians of the day regarding the brutality of wounds inflicted by great white sharks.

Far more riveting than Benchley's JAWS, CLOSE TO SHORE brings the true account of July 1916 along the Jersey Shore where three adults and a boy were attacked and killed as helpless witnesses looked on in horror.

Capuzzo masterfully tells the morbid tale from not only the human perspective, but also, by using information and facts from modern shark experts, from the perspective of the shark and its instincts. The book switches back and forth from human to shark in a way that wonderfully builds the account and the real-life suspense of the events involved. In fact, CLOSE TO SHORE is a wonderful resource regarding sharks generally. Capuzzo's research seemed so complete that at times I felt like I was reading a biology primer on sharks.

CLOSE TO SHORE proves to be a compelling page turner that you just can't miss!

First Rate Historical Read!!
Mr. Capuzzo's Close to Shore combines the natural history of the great white shark *and what went wrong in the case of this animal* with an overview of the social history of the US in 1916 into a non-fiction read that moves like a good novel. If you are looking for a sensational blood n' slash shark book, go somewhere else. If you are looking for a dry, historical account of the facts, go somewhere else. If you like your history text presented in an interesting and personal way then this is most definately the book for you. I can think of several history/natural history writers who could take a cue from Michael Capuzzo. I hope we see more from this author in the future!! I highly recommend the audio book as well. It is read by Len Cariou *if you know musical theatre then enough said!!* and is a great matching of vocal performer and material.

Where's the Shark?
Yes, there is a rogue great white shark featured in this nonfiction account of an adolsescent great white that apparently went crazy and attacked bathers and swimmers off the East Coast during the summer of 1916, but you have to read a lot of padding in this book, long expository segments on man vs. nature, the industrial revolution, the drum beats of World War I, back stories of people who were directly and indirectly in contact with the shark. The writing is excellent, but the book seems at least twice as long as at it would have been had the author focused on the shark attacks. It seems so many books are in reality essays that literary agents and publishers inflate into books. If you don't want all the peripheral information, what I'm calling padding, you may be disappointed. In the end, though, I have to give the book four stars because the prose style is sharp and the author recreates the harrowing shark attack scenes with lucid clarity and suspense. ... Read more

Book Description

This lively book reveals a little known culture that predates the Pilgrims and has remained true tothe earliest version of the American Dream: an egalitarian, self-reliant republic. The self-sufficientlobstermen of the Maine coast are models of environmental prudence: at a time when the fishingindustry is in crisis, they have conserved the bounty of their waters, even as the once-humblelobster has become a coveted delicacy. How denizens of the coast achieved this balance, even asthey withstood assaults from everyone from French raiders to rapacious land speculators, makes fora "stellar informal history ... a primer for conservation and the effects of bad politics" (TheKingston Observer). ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Absolutely fascinating and extremely well written book
Despite having grown up in midcoast Maine, the focus of this book, and having had Maine history in school, I learned so much from this book!I had no idea how fascinating the history of coastal Maine was---perhaps because much of it is rather disturbing---not something they wanted to teach us in 6th grade!I also now understand much more about the attitudes I grew up with regarding those "from away".I learned that I was part of a huge migration into Maine in the early 70s---I had always known that most anyone in my class that was not native had moved to Maine the very same summer we did (summer of '72) but I never really realized why.I've been away from Maine for a while now, and this book opened my eyes to some of the recent changes there---how many now are moving to Maine that have no interest in really becoming part of the culture they find there.And of course, I also learned a great deal about lobstering.Growing up, about half the kids in my class had fathers who were lobstermen, but this book greatly increased my knowledge of their culture and of lobsters themselves.I can't recommend this book highly enough!!

Read "The Lobster Gangs of Maine" first
I'd steer readers to Dr. James Acheson's book "The Lobster Gangs of Maine" first as it provides excellent insight into the culture from someone who has studied the Maine lobster fishery for years.

The sky is falling, but not on lobsters
The sky is truly falling on many fish species. Nets come up empty, and fish-based economies collapse. But the Maine lobster seems almost immune to such disaster; a growing number of Maine lobstermen continue to haul in a grand 20 million pounds a year of delectable crustacean with no shortage looming on the horizon. Why?

The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier by Colin Woodard explains how Maine lobstermen voluntarily conserve their lobster population and keep the industry sustainable.

The stereotype of the Maine fisherman as stoic, independent and not easily impressed is apparently well deserved. Woodard suggests that Maine's lobsters benefit from small, traditional, often ancient, fishing communities that jealously guard their resource. Though anyone can theoretically obtain a license to fish for lobster in Maine, the pros protect their harbors from interlopers, snubbing neophytes with no ancestral ties to the community, and even vandalizing their traps.

Maine lobstermen have also protected their lobster population by making the breeding female lobster almost sacred. Woodard lauds the lobstermen's practice of "V-notching" egg-bearing females-punching a small hole in their tail fins before releasing them back into the ocean. Notching is code for "Cherished breeder-not for sale." Lobstermen have agreed among themselves to throw back the V-notched lobsters-even when they are eggless.

Maine's lobstering community also tosses back outsized male lobsters-a practice unique among fishing industries.

Woodard writes ambitiously about the whole state of Maine and its history, starting with its pre-Pilgrim inhabitation by Europeans. Throughout his book, he keeps an eye on lobstering, the industry that has been the backbone of Maine's economy, the ever-present default option as other industries, such as ice and granite, failed.

Woodard reports not only on the conflict between lobstermen and government scientists, but also on the friction between ancient lobster communities and encroaching suburbia-what he calls the "Massification" of southern Maine, i.e. the tendency of Boston professionals to sprawl northward, driving lobstermen out of their ancestral homes with tax increases, beach access restrictions and noise ordinances.

Woodard's chapter, "The Triumph of the Commons," is, itself, a triumph. Science has declared that, by and large, shared natural resources are doomed to overharvesting, but Woodard shows how Maine's lobster community has defied that trend through religious self-regulation.

Woodard takes as his focal point the beautiful and largely undeveloped Monhegan Island. On Monhegan, lobstermen have taken resource conservation a quantum step further: they only fish for lobsters December through June.

Monhegan is not only a model of conservation; for Woodard, it is also a symbol of Maine and lobstering culture at its very best. Monhegan, he writes, is "an ancient, self-governing village, essentially classless and car-less, whose homes, sheds, and footpaths appear to have thrust themselves out of the wild and arrestingly beautiful landscape. . . . [B]eing immersed in it pulls at something deep within our civic being, a hint of a simpler, perhaps nobler world that might have been, but can never be again."

... Read more