Wildlife: aquatic creatures: general interest Books

Book SynopsisThis new field guide is a complete and convenient reference to every species of cetacean, pinniped and sirenian in the world, along with the Marine and Sea Otters and the Polar Bear.Every species is illustrated with magnificent colour paintings and a stunning collection of photographs, chosen to illustrate the key field marks which can be used to separate each species in the field.The author''s unique depth of experience and knowledge, coupled with the artist''s unrivalled skill, have come together to produce a neat, practical field guide that will enable any observer to quickly identify any mammals they may encounter at sea.Trade ReviewOne of the most attractive, well-produced and comprehensive guides ever published... Whales, Dolphins and Seals is a tour de force for author Hadoram Shirihai and artist Brett Jarrett. The lavishly illustrated paperback is a delight, with Jarrett's exquisitely crafted paintings, copious colour photographs and a text that is well laid out and highly informative. It really is a delightful book. * Sunday Express *This is an excellent buy and a must for cetacean lovers. * Birdwatch *It is likely to become the definitive guide to these fascinating creatures. * Saturday Guardian *An excellent book. The layout for the species pages is eye-catching but easy to read. There is a pleasing mix of photographs and and high quality artwork for each species together with texts that cover descriptions, behaviour, distribution and similar species. An invaluable field guide. * BTO News *This beautifully illustrated and informative text has fast become the definitive guide to the marine mammals of the world. * WDCS *Excellent field guide. * Wanderlust *Keep handy in the cockpit on your next adventure. * Ontario Sailor *

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Book SynopsisA biological and cultural biography of the ubiquitous yet mystical seashell.Seashells, stretching from the deep past into the present day, are touchstones leading into fascinating realms of the natural world and cutting-edge science. In Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells, marine biologist Helen Scales shows how seashells have been sculpted by the fundamental rules of mathematics and evolution; how they gave us color, gems, food, and new medicines. The science and natural history of shells are woven into a compelling narrative, revealing their cultural importance and the ways they have been used by humans over the millennia, even as a source of mind-bending drugs. After surviving multiple mass extinctions millions of years ago, mollusks and their shells still face an onslaught of anthropocentric challenges, including climate change and corrosive oceans. But rather than dwelling on all that is lost, Scales emphasizes that Trade ReviewA rewarding glimpse of another world, filled with strange and reclusive creatures ... There is rich detail in all directions. One does not know what will come next. Often the descriptions made me see shafts of sunlight underwater, irradiating extraordinary places and creatures. That is just what the book does itself. * The Guardian *... punctures assumptions with the power of a cone snail dart. * The Spectator *Splendid ... Scales clearly loves snails - she has done an elegant, excellent job of explaining her passion ... she is a most able modern champion of molluscs. * New Scientist *Scales is a charming raconteur with boundless enthusiasm and an eye for detail that make her subject glow with life. Combining biology, history and ecology, this is nature writing at its most engaging. * Sunday Express *The stories in Spirals in Time – which range from slaves being bought for bags of shells in west Africa in the 1770s to ground-breaking medical uses of cone-snail venom – are gripping and unimaginable. * The Telegraph *Helen Scales ... takes us on a fascinating journey into the strange and captivating world of mollusks. Carefully researched and entertaining throughout ... Scales's book is relentlessly interesting. * Science *...an informed introduction to this fascinating group. The author's enthusiasm shines through the prose...This is an ideal book for a summer holiday, and beach finds will take on a new dimension because of it. * Times Literary Supplement *With the soul of a poet and a talent for finding the most intriguing trivia about familiar seaside sights, marine biologist Scales turns the mundane into the magical. * Discover *Table of Contents1. Meet the shell-makers 2. How to build a shell 3. Sex, death and gems 4. Shell food 5. A mollusc called home 6. Spinning shell stories 7. Flight of the argonauts 8. Treasure hunting 9. Bright ideas 10. The sea butterfly effect

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Book SynopsisAbout seventy-one per cent of the Earth’s surface is water, and even on dry land we remain closely connected to aquatic life. It provides us with oxygen, food, medicine and materials. Wild waterlife infiltrates our lives in many surprising ways. Every other breath we take is filled with oxygen provided by ocean-dwelling microscopic plants. A type of seaweed provides a means to directly test whether people are infected with viruses, including Covid-19. Robotics design takes inspiration from a pike’s ability to accelerate with greater g-force than a Porsche.Wild Waters by Susanne Masters is a celebration of the breadth of wildlife that can be found in and around our varied waterways, from oceans and rivers to rock pools and ponds. Armchair explorers can read a fascinating account of how aquatic plants and animals enrich human life. Swimmers, paddleboarders, dog walkers, families and anyone with a passion for the great outdoors can learn about local wildlife, including when and where to look for different species without causing any harm.With stunning illustrations by Alice Goodridge, Wild Waters provides a tantalising insight into the world beneath the surface.Trade Review‘A deep dive into the aquatic world, Wild Waters is a fascinating guide to where we swim and the wildlife we might encounter there. Part field guide, part natural and human history of our waterways, Wild Waters is engagingly written with a scientist’s eye for detail by Susanne Masters and beautifully illustrated by Alice Goodridge. Full of fascinating facts as well as elegant prose and drawings, Masters shares her knowledge about the wildlife we swim with and the places that we swim in to help you have a deeper connection with the water on your next wild swim. A magical book.’– Jonathan Cowie, editor of Outdoor Swimmer‘Susanne Masters writes for those who love the water and land alike. She paints with words for readers, in the way that the movie My Octopus Teacher brought to life a dynamic and interconnected underwater world for viewers. Her writing combines science, stories, history and delectable moments of watery delight. She will take you on a historical journey with intriguing facts then let you rise to the surface to look at a tiny plant or large animal. When you come up for air, she has shown you how it is all connected. Masters presents, with straightforward words and a nuanced grace, tactical advice for how to interact with organisms in a world different from our own. She takes the reader into watery worlds where one may never get to go, but upon finishing that chapter, will feel like you have been. Reading her work connects you to the water/land interface of ecosystems and the dynamics of water itself through ways of looking at a world that you usually need to get wet to see. Those who engage in water sports, swimming and or diving will all get to go deeper into what they experience. And for those who are simply curious, they will be drawn in as soon as they start to read the first lines of Susanne Masters’ both lyrical and factual way of using words, mingling them together to create an illuminating, thought-provoking and fun experience.’– Dr Maria Fadiman, Professor of Geography at Florida Atlantic University and National Geographic Explorer'In Wild Waters, Masters takes readers on a vividly depicted journey to the British Isles' most treasured aquatic habitats. Gorgeously illustrated and packed with fascinating details about the wild creatures that live in or near the water, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys spending time in nature or is drawn to the water!'– Dr Cassandra Quave, Emory University Herbarium Curator and author of The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines

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Book SynopsisIn Underwater Worlds, the sequel to her imaginative adult coloring book Dreamland, Renata Krawczyk explores the ocean depths to discover whimsical dwellings, mermaids, and sea life, all with exquisite hand-drawn detail. Dive deep into the imagination of Renata Krawczyk to discover marine beauty and aquatic friends across 46 hand-drawn scenes, each presented on single-sided and perforated pages. Here, dolphins wear party hats, turtles carry homes on their shells, seahorses tow paper boats, and mermaids play with giant octopuses or surprise humans who have ventured into their world via submarine. Each drawing is teaming with life, seashells, and underwater dwellings with rich detail that will delight adult coloring enthusiasts.

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Book SynopsisThe beauty of the apex predator captured up close and unflinchingly.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, Shortlisted for the Stella Prize, Highly Commended in the Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation, and a Sunday Independent Book of the Year. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? Fathoms blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions. Giggs introduces us to whales so rare they have never been named and tells us of whale ‘pop’ songs that sweep across hemispheres. She takes us into the deeps to discover that one whale’s death can spark a great flourishing of creatures. We travel to Japan to board whaling ships, examine the uncanny charisma of these magnificent mammals, and confront the plastic pollution now pervading their underwater environment.Trade Review‘Fathoms is perhaps the finest book written about whales since Moby Dick was published 170 years ago. It’s also one of the best accounts I’ve ever read of the interaction, intended and unintended, between humans and other species — a work of genuinely literary imagination.’ -- Verlyn Klinkenborg * New York Review of Books *‘Fathoms took my breath away. Every page is suffused with magic and meaning. Humanity’s relationship with nature has never been more important or vulnerable, and we are truly fortunate that at such a pivotal moment, a writer of Rebecca Giggs’s calibre is here to capture every beautiful detail, every aching nuance. She is in a league of her own.’ -- Ed Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes‘Fathoms is a magnificent book, as grand and profound in its sweep as the whale itself. Rebecca Giggs is a brilliant writer - her prose packed with wonders and glittering with ideas.’ -- Philip Marsden, author of The Summer Isles‘Fathoms reads like a poem. Its virtuoso thinking is a revelation. I can’t think of many books in which love for the world and uncompromising, ever-deepening rigour come together in this way. Time slows down. This book makes a permanent dent in the reader.’ -- Maria Tumarkin, author of Axiomatic‘Fathoms is a marvel: a glorious, prismatic, deeply affecting hymn to the beauty, majesty, and extremity of whales and the human imagining of them.’ -- James Bradley, author of Clade‘[A] lyrical, wide-ranging meditation on whales and their complex relationship with humanity … Meticulously researched and full of fascinating information.’ -- Books+Publishing‘In Fathoms, Rebecca Giggs rips the metaphors off whales and brings us closer than we can usually get to the creatures themselves. Along the way, she shows us how intimately whales are shaping our lives, how they change air quality, and crime, and even our conception of time. I can't stop thinking about the connections she has unearthed, how a whale is connected to a meteor, a mother's breast, a landfill. Under the spell of her deliciously evocative prose, you get the sense that you are truly, finally, glimpsing a whale in full glory. Like the busks she writes about—tiny missives carved into whalebone corsets by sailors—this book leaves an imprint.’ -- Lulu Miller, author of Why Fish Don’t Exist and co-founder of NPR’s Invisibilia‘Seafaring scrutiny of whales, their oceanic environment, and the dangers to their survival … Giggs presents … scholarship in crisp, creatively written chapters addressing the many layers of the whale population’s unique physiology and evolutionary history, sociality, above-water balletic athleticism, and enigmatic ‘biophony’ of their vocalisations. Most importantly, she analyses how their behaviour can be predictive for the Earth’s future … Giggs reiterates that the whale and its life, legacy, and precarious environmental state are reflective of the greater issues the Earth faces, from ecological upheaval to overconsumption. Whether describing the majesty of the blue whale or the human assault on sea ecology due to paper and plastic pollution, the author’s prose is poetic, beautifully smooth, urgently readable, and eloquently informative. Her passion for whales leaps off the page, urging readers to care and—even more so—become involved in their protection and preservation. Throughout the book, the author’s debut, she brilliantly exposes ‘how regular human life seeped into the habitats of wildlife, and how wildlife returned back to us, the evidence of our obliviousness.’ Refreshingly, she also reveals glimmers of hope regarding what whales can teach the human race about our capacity to ecologically coexist with the natural world. A thoughtful, ambitiously crafted appeal for the preservation of marine mammals.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus Reviews *‘Astonishing ... utterly original ... Fathomsis an attempt to interpret our contemporary moment – and in particular our relationship with the non-human world – through the glistening figure of the whale in all its myriad aspects ... The language of Fathoms has a remarkable, almost gothic intensity. The style is vivid and estranging and luridly compelling, full of weird lights and unexpected textures ... A remarkable literary event because it is a new and hugely ambitious kind of nature writing, verging on poetry. It is itself a whale cure, thrusting us into the dark intestine of the whale, among the indigestible plastics and other pollutants, the better to hear the conscience of tomorrow.’ -- Andrew Fuhrmann * The Monthly *‘In Fathoms, Rebecca Giggs unravels a powerful nonfiction narrative, masterfully blending history, philosophy and science.’ -- Dan Shaw * Happy Magazine *‘This book is nothing less than a small masterpiece. … Rebecca Giggs’ Fathoms – the world in the whale is a remarkable meditation on, nominally, whales, but through them the delicacy and intricacy of human relationships with the environment, and the history and legacy of our intimate and devastating impact upon ecosystems … The book is a striking piece of narrative nonfiction, philosophical and personal at once wrestling with liminal vulnerabilities, fantasies, conceits and projections, and it deserves global attention.’ 4.5 STARS -- Anna Westbrook * ArtsHub *‘Fathoms is horrific, poetic and profound; a morbid dirge shot through with celestial light. As well as being an extensively researched and deeply considered study, the book is also a wunderkammer of tales that illustrate the hot mess of human aggression, obliviousness and folly … Fathoms is a vast book, the scale of which brings to mind the blue whale, anatomically mysterious and the largest creature to have lived. Giggs weaves together cosmological phenomena with their deep-sea reverberations to give us a book that feels universal.’ -- Justine Hyde * The Saturday Paper *‘With remarkable detective work, author Rebecca Giggs explores the habitats and migratory patterns of whales to reveal a great deal about them, and even more about us. It is a hauntingly beautiful examination of the moral force of animals, offering hope as well as despair.’ -- Jeff Maynard * Herald Sun *‘A work of bright and careful genius. Equal parts Rebecca Solnit and Annie Dillard, Giggs masterfully combines lush prose with conscientious history and boots-on-the-beach reporting. With Giggs leading us gently by the hand we dive down, and down, and down, into the dark core of the whale, which, she convincingly reveals, is also the guts of the world.’ -- Robert Moor, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails: an exploration‘Rebecca Giggs’ Fathoms is a triumph, a deliciously rich work of art that, as if by magic, combines exquisite prose that floats off the page and into your heart with scientific accuracy and epic scope. This is by far the best book about whales I have ever read. What an achievement!’ -- Wendy Williams, author of The Language of Butterflies and New York Times bestseller The Horse: the epic history of our noble companion‘One of the most beautifully written nonfiction books I have read in a long time. It's so hard to do justice to the immense importance of whales and the lessons they have for us all. Rebecca Giggs does an extraordinary job of bringing together the science, the history, and the brilliance and fragility of whales.’ -- Christine Kenneally, author of The Invisible History of the Human Race‘Fathoms is a work of profound insight and wonder.’ * X-Press Magazine *‘The book is a masterpiece. I am astonished that it is Giggs’s first, for it reads like the work of a far more experienced author ... Giggs’s exquisite prose is so striking as to be almost poetic, pulling the reader up constantly, either to savour a particularly apposite phrase, or to ponder a deep, unexpected connection. If a whale warrants a pause, then Fathoms warrants many.’ -- Tim Flannery * The Australian *‘Lyrical, meditative and deeply researched, this gorgeous book by WA writer Rebecca Giggs is one to linger over.’ * The Weekend West *‘This is a heavy read, but a fascinating and vital one.’ -- Ellen Cregan * Kill Your Darlings *‘Fathoms is beautifully written, always aiming for the bigger picture: what it means to live in the world; and what it means to be enthralled by the world we live in and destroying it … Fathoms is a glorious, beautiful and deeply important book.’ -- Magdalena Ball * Compulsive Reader *‘Truly remarkable … Each page is full of wonder and revelation.’ -- Grey Kelly * Talking Heads Magazine *‘This is an unforgettable, meticulously researched work that examines the ways that we’re all connected — with whales, with the, environment and each other.’ -- Eliza Henry-Jones * Organic Gardener Magazine *‘Meticulous research and stunning prose … unique, introspective and poetic.’ -- Zoya Patel * Canberra Times *‘[A] moving homage to the whale … A book that begins with obsequies for a whale ends by enlarging our knowledge of, and sense of wonder about, this magnificent species. It is non-fiction told with the vivacity and moral authority that was once reserved for fiction.’ * Australian Financial Review *‘Giggs’ meticulous research is itself awesome. Every page has its breathtaking revelations … For all this wondrous detail, the whale remains a lens through which to consider humanity’s relationship with the environment … Fathoms’ exhilarating poetic language is richly allusive and orchestrated … this marvellous work of haunted wonder ends with a fiercely unabashed vision of humanity moved 'from indecision to action', for whales, for love, for the world.’ -- Felicity Plunkett * Sydney Morning Herald *‘[A] delving, haunted and poetic debut. Giggs is worth reading for her spotlight observations and lyricism alone, but she also has an important message to deliver … [S]he uses whales as invitations to consider everything else: the selfie-isation of environmentalism, the inherent worth of parasites, Jungian psychoanalysis, solar storms, whale songs records going multiplatinum and so much more. In the cascade of mini-essays that results, Giggs comes off as much as a cultural critic as a naturalist.’ -- Doug Bock Clark * The New York Times Book Review *‘There is much to marvel at here … Deeply researched and deeply felt, Giggs’ intricate investigation, beautifully revelatory and haunting, urges us to save the whales once again, and the oceans, and ourselves.’ STARRED REVIEW * Booklist *‘In the whale, Giggs truly does find the world. She finds clues that unlock how humans have engaged nature — tales of greed, aggression, wonder, desperation, longing, nostalgia, love, curiosity and obsession. Her prose is luminous … tracing humankind’s continuing intersection with these alluring creatures, Giggs ultimately uncovers seeds of hope and, planting them in her fertile mind, cultivates a lush landscape that offers remarkable views of nature, humanity and how we might find a way forward together.’ STARRED REVIEW * BookPage *‘Fathoms immediately earns its place in the pantheon of classics of the new golden age of environmental writing.’ -- Stephen Sparks * Literary Hub *‘A profound meditation … Giggs explores how whales have permeated our lives and the many ways we have invaded and transformed theirs. Each chapter orbits a different aspect of this long and fraught relationship — commodification, pollution, voyeurism, adoration, mythology — swerving wherever Giggs’s extensive research and fervent curiosity take her … Giggs’s prose is fluid, sensuous, and lyrical. She has a poet’s gift for startling and original imagery … The lushness of her sentences and the intensity of her vision inspire frequent rereading — not for clarity, but for sheer pleasure and depth of meaning.’ -- Ferris Jabr * Los Angeles Review of Books *‘[W]idens the aperture of our attention with a literary style so stunning that the reader may forget to blink ... In a story that extends across several continents, Ms. Giggs marshals lapidary language to give the crisis a compelling voice. Her prose, like the oceans in which her subjects roam, is immersive; her sentences submerge us in a sea of sensations … [M]ore descriptive than prescriptive concerning the plight of whales and, by implication, the health of the Earth. But as with George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant and E.B. White’s Death of a Pig, Ms. Giggs, tending the final hours of a humpback on an Australian beach, reminds us that paying attention to the close of another creature’s life can be its own form of moral instruction.’ -- Danny Heitman * The Wall Street Journal *‘Immersive … Illustrating the interconnectedness of all life and the ways man's depredations travel from the smallest creatures to this largest of Earth's animals … In lyrical language, Giggs leads readers on a journey through underwater cultures and the place of whales in the chain of life. Recommended for readers interested in nature, ecology, and environmentalism.’ -- Caren Nichter * Library Journal *‘A searching debut … Giggs displays a keen awareness of what it means to write about a creature whose future is just as uncertain as our own.’ * The Nation *‘As well as being dazzlingly well researched and conveyed, the language in Fathoms is wonderful in that it never becomes sentimental and yet is thoroughly moving. Combining reportage, cultural criticism and poem as a call to action in the spirit of Rachel Carson, Giggs is an assured new voice in narrative nonfiction … Gloriously, she presents whales as poets … We need to be moved – therein the particular power of literature to expand the parameters of our compassion … More prescient for its time than the author could have imagined.’ -- Abi Andrews * The Irish Times *‘Fathoms is brilliantly full of wonder.’ * The Economist *‘Masterly.’ * The New Yorker *‘Glorious and astounding.’ -- Robbie Arnott‘With distinctive prose, as philosophical as it is scientific, this is a challenging and illuminating portrait of the oceans’ great cetaceans and what they mean to people.’ -- Helen Scales * BBC Wildlife Magazine *‘Beautiful and insightful.’ -- Pádraic Fogarty * Sunday Independent *‘By looking at the largest of our mammalian cousins Rebecca Giggs returns us to ourselves. This vital and urgent book awakens our wonder and our fear. In dense language, rich in poetry and science, it fathoms a deep empathy for the living world.’ -- Antony Gormley‘Some of the most alive, inventive writing on the planet is nature writing, and Giggs’ Fathoms is glorious proof. Ostentatious, mythic and strange, this is the kind of book that swallows you whole. Entirely fitting for its subject.’ -- Beejay Silcox * The Guardian *‘Fathoms is the result of years of research and contemplation: a cultural, historical and ecological exploration of whales and their place in human life and thought … It is simply one of the most miraculous and illuminating accounts of animality I’ve come across. Read it, read the whole magnificent tome: you’ll leave it filled with renewed awe for cetacean existence.’ -- Geordie Williamson * The Australian *‘A poetic and surprisingly wide-ranging blend of natural history, science and philosophy.’ -- Gemma Nisbet * The Weekend West Australian *‘This remarkable study of whales examines much more than the magnificent creatures of the deep. Through brilliant detective work, Giggs explores the habitats and migratory patterns of whales to reveal a great deal about them, and even more about the human impact on the oceans.’ * The Chronicle *‘Giggs’s style is all the more impactful for its sparseness … Her journey encompasses everything from whale-hunting ships in Japan to Loch Ness monster conspiracy theories in Scotland, with all of the disparate subjects deftly woven together by clipped, polished prose.’ -- Caroline Crampton * The Mail on Sunday *‘Wonder pours out of every page of this gorgeously written and daringly imagined book.’ -- Laura Miller * Slate *‘Extraordinary.’ -- Hannah James * Australian Geographic *‘A book like this shows the best of what reflective, creative non-fiction can do.’ -- Kate Evans * ABC Radio *‘Rebecca Giggs’ enthralling Fathoms: the world in the whale presents whales as immense, enigmatic, intelligent and majestic sea creatures, but also vividly describes the intricate ecosystem of the vast oceans in which they live and die. Drawing from science, history, literature, art and mythology, Fathoms is both epic in scale and rich in detail about the life cycle of whales, their behaviours and sociality.’ -- Donna Lee Brien * The Conversation *‘Lyrical … Facts like these are eye-opening. But the book shines most brightly in its poetry … Giggs’s writing has an old-fashioned lushness and elaborateness of thought … its finest passages — and they are many — awaken a sense of wonder. That other lives as marvellous and mysterious as these still exist is, for the moment at least, a reason to celebrate.’ -- Richard Schiffman * The Washington Post *‘Like fine tapestry, strands unite into a coherent work of great beauty. Yes, this is a book about what whales mean to us, but it’s also about how to interweave and admire cultural and biological stories, metaphors, and meanings.’ -- David George Haskell * Geographical Magazine *'An incredibly wonderful book ... [Giggs] is a fabulous writer' -- Brian Eno‘Giggs' work [Fathoms] … on whales, climate change and pollution has been one of the most affecting [books] I've read in a while.’ -- Sophie Overett * The Courier-Mail *‘It’s rare for whales to get what they deserve from our species, but Giggs’ fascinating and poetic natural history starts to pay back a portion of an impossible debt.’ -- Christopher J. Preston * Geographical Magazine *

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Book SynopsisAn epic and fun history spanning from the mollusks that invented swimming to the octopuses and other intelligent cephalopods of today Publisher's Note: Monarchs of the Sea was previously published in hardcover as Squid Empire. Before mammals, there were dinosaurs. And before dinosaurs, there were cephalopods--the ancestors of modern squid, octopuses, and more creatures--Earth's first truly substantial animals. Essentially inventing the act of swimming, cephalopods presided over an undersea empire for millions of years--until fish evolved jaws, and cephalopods had to step up their game or risk being eaten. To keep up, some streamlined their shells and added defensive spines, while others abandoned the shell, opening the gates to a flood of evolutionary innovations: masterful camouflage, fin-supplemented jet propulsion, and intelligence we've yet to fully measure. Monarchs of the Sea is an epic, witty history about these bizarre but beautiful creatures that ruled the seas--and still captivate us today.Trade Review"Cephs rule! [Monarchs of the Sea], like its protagonists, is nimble, fast, surprising, smart, and weird in the very coolest sense of the word. What could be more fun than jetting back in time to primordial seas with the monsters who really ruled our planet? In these pages, Danna Staaf makes every dino-lover and every undersea adventurer's dream come true. It's a fabulous read with squishy, slimy delight on every page."--Sy Montgomery, New York Times-bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus "This crystal-clear book will open your world to wider horizons and much deeper times. . . . Long before vertebrates evolved anything like higher intelligence, squids and octopuses were on a separate track to versatility, problem-solving, individual recognition, and deceit. Before we can know who we are, we must know who we are here with, and who has come before us."--Carl Safina, New York Times-bestselling author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel "I loved this book. . . . Staaf's approach is short and sweet, well-illustrated and strong on playful narrative."--Nature "It is a treat to come across a writer with such specialized training who is able to turn esoteric knowledge into a page-turning read for all audiences. . . . Staaf captures what is rarely seen outside the ivory tower: scientists talking among themselves with a touch of irreverence. Researchers everywhere will surely relate."--Science "This engaging book may do for early cephalopods what paleontologists did for dinosaurs in the 1960s: spark a public renaissance of appreciation for these magnificent creatures who once ruled the seas."--Jennifer Ouellette, author of Me, Myself, and Why and The Calculus Diaries "Intriguing . . . This in-depth coverage of an often neglected but ecologically vital group will change your view of squid, octopuses, and their relatives."--New Scientist "A book like [Monarchs of the Sea] is a reminder that in any scientific narrative, there are always two stories at play. There is the history of the subject you're studying, and then there is the history of its discovery."--New Republic "Fiendishly readable."--The Inquisitive Biologist "Fresh and fascinating."--The Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisA tale of obsession and very big fish from Jeremy Wade, the presenter of ITV''s RIVER MONSTERS.Over ten feet long, it weighs in at nearly a quarter of a ton. Covering its back are armoured plates made of bone. Five hundred stiletto-sharp teeth line its long crocodilian jaws. It''s a prehistoric beast of staggering proportions; a fearsome creature from the time of the dinosaurs.But the Alligator Gar, an air-breathing survivor from the Cretaceous period is still with us today, patrolling inland rivers, hunting in murky waters shared by human communities.And for Jeremy Wade, described as the ''greatest angling explorer of his generation'', the Gar and other outlandish freshwater predators have been an obsession for all his adult life. With names like Arapaima, Snakehead, Goonch, Goliath Tigerfish and Electric Eel, many of them have acquired an almost mythical status.In a quest that has taken him from the Amazon to the Congo, and from North AmericaTrade ReviewThe fishing fanatic's Downton Abbey... a terrific book * THE LADY *A serious angler with a genuinely pioneering streak, his written accompaniment to the series, now in paperback, is well crafted and, although the species are exotic, the tales of chasing elusive specimins will resonate with all anglers. * ANGLING TIMES *A reflective character with a hint of angst about him, he has a travel writer's eye and a philosopher's mind to go with his scientific background. * TROUT FISHERMAN *

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Book SynopsisLocated where the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea converge, the Florida Keys are distinctive for their rich and varied marine fauna. The Keys are home to nearly sixty taxonomic families of bivalves such as clams and mussels - roughly half the world's bivalve family diversity. This volume provides a treatment of these bivalves.Trade Review"This handsome volume, the first of a projected three-volume work on the mollusks of the Florida Keys, sets an admirable precedent. Mikkelsen and Rudiger have probably created the best illustrated and most detailed of any marine identification work so far published...[T]his is an important reference work that belongs in the library of any institution that offers courses in marine biology."--J.C. Briggs, Choice "All marine bivalve enthusiasts should purchase this book, regardless of their home port. The anatomical drawings, illustrated glossary and good photographs will be useful worldwide. In addition, I would strongly recommend this book to all malacologists and shell collectors. It just might entice them to take the plunge into the exciting, if not tumultuous, world of bivalve taxonomy."--Paul Valentich-Scott, The FestivusTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1 Florida Keys 1 Natural History 1 Need for Protection 2 Florida Keys Bivalves 3 Habitats 3 History of Exploration and the Florida Keys Molluscan Diversity Project 5 Using This Book 6 Bivalve Morphology 11 Recent Bivalve Families of the World 18 The Florida Keys Bivalves 24 Nuculidae 24 Solemyidae 30 Manzanellidae 35 Nuculanidae 38 Yoldiidae 44 Arcidae 48 Noetiidae 58 Glycymerididae 62 Limopsidae 68 Philobryidae 74 Mytilidae 78 Pteriidae 92 Isognomonidae 98 Malleidae 104 Ostreidae 108 Gryphaeidae 114 Pinnidae 120 Limidae 126 Pectinidae 134 Propeamussiidae 148 Spondylidae 154 Plicatulidae 158 Anomiidae 162 Crassatellidae 166 Astartidae 172 Carditidae 176 Condylocardiidae 182 Pandoridae 186 Lyonsiidae 192 Periplomatidae 196 Spheniopsidae 200 Thraciidae 204 Verticordiidae 208 Poromyidae 214 Cuspidariidae 220 Lucinidae 228 Ungulinidae 240 Thyasiridae 246 Chamidae 250 Lasaeidae 258 Hiatellidae 264 Gastrochaenidae 268 Trapezidae 274 Sportellidae 279 Corbiculidae 284 Cardiidae 288 Veneridae 300 Tellinidae 322 Donacidae 340 Psammobiidae 344 Semelidae 350 Solecurtidae 358 Pharidae 364 Mactridae 368 Dreissenidae 374 Myidae 378 Corbulidae 382 Pholadidae 388 Teredinidae 396 Acknowledgments 409 A Note About Shell Collecting 411 A Note on Species Names Introduced by d'Orbigny 413 Illustrated Glossary of Bivalve Terms 415 General Literature Cited and Suggested Reading 449 Image Data and Credits 455 Index 481

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Book SynopsisA showcase of the staggering beauty and variety of seashells, suggesting parallels to art and architecture. Stunningly detailed photos celebrate nature's designs.

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Book SynopsisPlanktonia invites readers to dive into the dazzling nighttime ocean. Countless microscopic plankton ascend to the upper waters to feed, returning to the depths before sunrise. These tiny planktonic creatures are delicate and beautiful; some look terrifying; and most look nothing like the creatures they will become as adults.

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Book SynopsisRays of the World is the first complete pictorial atlas of the world's ray fauna and features paintings of more than six hundred species by the fish artist Lindsay Marshall.Trade ReviewOverall, this was a tremendous effort and the editors and illustrator should be commended. This is a must have book for anyone with an interest in chondrichthyans, and should find a place in the libraries of any serious ichthyologist. * The Quarterly Review of Biology *It is the first book to exclusively illustrate all the world’s rays, and was edited and written by some of the leading taxonomic researchers in the field.... The book is certainly not the last word on this group, but rather as the editors themselves commented on in the introduction, is a beginning to lay the groundwork for future research on this group of fishes. * Environmental Biology of Fishes *

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Book SynopsisBetween the surface of the sea and depths of two hundred meters lies a remarkable range of fish, generally known as pelagics, or open-ocean dwellers. These creatures are among the largest, fastest, highest-leaping, and most migratory fish on the entire planet. This book describe these fishes and explores the complex world in which they live.

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Book SynopsisThe hare permeates our consciousness like no other creature. Despite facing ever increasing environmental pressures, the hare still retains its ability to both delight and confound in equal measure. Produced in conjunction with The Hare Preservation Trust, this book offers a unique insight into this most fascinating of creatures.

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Book SynopsisCombining 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. 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. Capuzzo interweaves 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. From the unnerving inevitability of the first attack on the esteemed son of a prosperous Philadelphia physician to the

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Book SynopsisA revelatory look at the secrets of marine fish migration.Not since F. R. Harden Jones published his masterwork on fish migration in 1968 has a book so thoroughly demystified the subject. With stunning clarity, David Hallock Secor''s Migration Ecology of Fishes finally penetrates the clandestine nature of marine fish migration. Secor explains how the four decades of research since Jones''s classic have employed digital-age technologiesincluding electronic miniaturization, computing, microchemistry, ocean observing systems, and telecommunicationsthat render overt the previously hidden migration behaviors of fish. Emerging from the millions of observed, telemetered, simulated, and chemically traced movement paths is an appreciation of the individual fish. Members of the same populations may stay put, explore, delay, accelerate, evacuate, and change course as they conditionally respond to their marine existence. But rather than a morass of individual behavioTrade ReviewThose of us who throw a line overboard or off a dock and quiver as some invisible creature teases our bait but curse the water's opaqueness will revel in this highly scientific textbook that penetrates the murky secrets of the sea. -- Elisavietta Ritchie Bay Weekly Secor's research brings together the history of ideas on fish migration, as well as an analysis of the new technologies that have provided remarkable observations on movements of fish in the global oceans to address why fish go where they do, and why an understanding is critical to the management of ocean uses. University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science An up-to-date synthesis of current knowledge of marine fish migrations... Appropriate for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, fisheries professionals, and marine ecologists. Choice ... Many students of ecology and a wide range of professionals will benefit from the synthesis of ideas and large collection of relevant citations provided in this book. Journal of Fish Biology David Secor's book on the migration ecology of marine fishes represents a comprehensive synthesis of the state of the science in this field... Secor reveals the complexities of marine fish migration and provides the reader with an unprecedented window into movement dynamics under the sea. Ecology [ Migration Ecology of Marine Fishes] provided the most comprehensive, creative, current, and ambitious overview of migration literature to date. Secor especially succeeded in finding ways to discuss the mechanisms and ecological consequences of migration in almost every aspect of a fish's life... Rev Fish Biol Fisheries ... an insightful and comprehensive account... Migration Ecology of Marine Fishes will make a very useful contribution by providing a framework for the broader interpretation of fish migration. This same framework has important implications for the understanding and management of fish population/species productivity, stability and resilience in the face of fishing pressure and environmental change. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research ...undoubtedly an outstanding book and I strongly recommend it to all scientists, researchers, and students who are interested in migration and fisheries ecology. I cannot praise it highly enough. Marine Biology Research It deserves to be read by everyone with an interest the ecology of fishes, as well as those studying migratory behaviors in other groups. One comes away from the book with the clear impression that studies focusing on single aspects of fish movements are missing much of the story. Quarterly Review of Biology Those taking the time to read this book slowly and repeatedly will continuously find new insights and be rewarded for their effort. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society The value of Migration Ecology of Marine Fishes is that it provides accessible avenues for researchers that do study fish movement at the individual-level (or from behavioral and physiological perspectives) to consider the emergent properties that arise at the population level... Secor accomplishes what he set out to do, adding several useful new dimensions to the treatise by Harden-Jones. Environmental Biology of Fishes This book encapsulates the major advancements of the field, incorporating old and new concepts of migration to the latest technology in studying fish movement... Overall, Migration Ecology of Marine Fishes is an exceptional read for a graduate student or fisheries ecologist. It provides a current review of migration theory-a synthesis that has been long overdue in the marine ecology literature. Reviews in Fish Biology and FisheriesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments1. IntroductionClassifying MigrationBook Organization2. Bird and Fish MigrationMovement in FluidsAnalysis of Movements and MigrationRules of AggregationSchooling and FlockingNavigation CapacitiesSummarySegue3. Mating Systems and Larval DispersalMating SystemsEmbryo and Larval DispersalAlignment of Larval Dispersal with Mating SystemsSelective Harvest during Spawning MigrationsSummarySegue4. Complex Life Cycles and Marine Food WebsMarine Food WebsMigrating among Size SpectraMarine Ecosystem Patchiness, Transience, and PeriodicityLife Cycle SchedulesSchooling through Food WebsThe Storage EffectSummarySegue5. Population StructureFinding Their Way back HomeLife Cycle ClosureOpen Life CyclesMetapopulation TheoryTaking Stock of Population ThinkingSummarySegue6. Propagating PropensitiesConditional MigrationsPartial Migration Writ NarrowEvolution of Partial Migration and Ecological SpeciationPartial Migration Writ LargeSummarySegueRecapitulation7. ResilienceResilience TheoryResilience to Fishing and Climate ChangeCollective Agencies and BiodiversityBuilding Resilience into PopulationsSummaryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA New Scientist Gift Pick 2017From luminous squid to invisible plankton, from sandy shorelines to the bone-crushing pressure of the deep, marine conservationist Tom "The Blowfish" Hird takes us on an incredible journey revealing what lurks beneath the waves. A treasure chest of fascinating facts, full-colour photos and vintage line drawings, Blowfish's Oceanopedia is a stunningly beautiful guide to all we know about our oceans and the weird and wonderful creatures that inhabit them.Trade ReviewA lively, sumptuous cornucopia of all things oceanic. Who knew a squid could fly, or that hagfish drown their prey in slime? * Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows *A marine marvel... Tom Hird applies his boundless enthusiasm to give us a smorgasbord of bite-sized oceanic and fishy facts. * Brian Clegg, author of The Universe Inside You *Thoroughly entertaining and enlightening. Packed with first-hand experiences and fascinating facts, this is the most accessible encyclopaedia you'll ever read! * Miranda Krestovnikoff, wildlife presenter and RSPB President *Amazing facts for ocean-lovers. * New Scientist (Gift Pick 2017) *Packed with proper science, brought alive by marine biologist, Tom "the Blowfish" Hird's entertainingly blokey turn of phrase. * BBC Wildlife Magazine *

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Book SynopsisPowerful and mysterious, sharks inspire both fascination and fear. Worldwide, oceans are home to some five-hundred species, and of those, fifty-six are known to reside in or pass through the waters off the coast of both North and South Carolina. At any given time, waders, swimmers, and surfers enjoying these waters are frequently within just one-hundred feet of a shark. While it's unnerving to know that sharks often swim just below the surface in the shallows, Clay Creswell, a shark-bite investigator for the Shark Research Institute's Global Shark Attack File, explains that attacks on humans are extremely rare. In 2019 the International Shark Attack File confirmed sixty-four unprovoked attacks on humans, including three in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. While acknowledging that they pose real dangers to humans, Creswell believes the fear of sharks is greatly exaggerated. During his sixteen-year association with the Shark Research Institute, he has investigated more than one hundred shark-related incidents and has maintained a database of all shark–human encounters along the Carolina coastlines back to 1817. Creswell uses this data to expose the truth and history of this often-sensationalized topic. Beyond the statistics related to attacks in the Carolina waters, Sharks in the Shallows offers a history of shark–human interactions and an introduction to the world of shark attacks. Creswell details the conditions that increase a person's chances of an encounter, profiles the three species most often involved in attacks, and reveals the months and time of day with the highest probability of an encounter. With a better understanding of sharks' responses to their environment, and what motivates them to attack humans, he hopes people will develop a greater appreciation of the invaluable role sharks play in our marine environment.

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Book SynopsisRSPB Spotlight Seals is packed with eye-catching, informative color photos and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist.Spotlight Seals explores the intricate lives of the UK''s native Grey and Common Seals and their amazing physical and behavioral adaptations to a life split between land and sea. Seals are the sleekest and most agile of all marine mammals, and they are superbly adapted to the watery world in which they spend most of their time. With their whiskery dog-like faces, curious nature and vulnerable pups, they are enduringly appealing animals. Although air-breathing, these marine mammals are superbly tuned to hunt, sleep, mate and keep warm while out at sea, but they remain inextricably linked to land where they moult and have their pups.Frances Dipper also delves into the complex physiology that allows seals to dive deep and for long periods without coming to any harm. Once ruthlessly exploited for their Table of ContentsMeet the Seals Seals Around the World Life on Land Life on Sea The Daily Routine Watching Seals Threats and Protection Seals in Our Lives Further Reading and Resources Acknowledgements Image Credits Index

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Book SynopsisThe British beach is full of creatures that we think we know - from crabs to clams, starfish to anemones. But, in fact, we barely understand how many survive or thrive. In Rock Pool the delights of childhood paddling are elevated to oceanic discoveries, as the fragile beauty and drama of intertidal existence is illustrated through the incredible lives of twenty-four individual creatures. Rock Pool is the eye-opening account of a life-long passion by a talented writer and naturalist.Trade Review`Here are three simple steps to help you feel better about the world: read Heather Buttivant's marvellous book, grab a pair of wellies and get yourself to a rocky shore ... [a] thoughtful, enlightening and entertaining read.' BBC Wildlife Magazine | 'An utterly joyous book, a celebration of our incomparable 11,000 miles of British coastline ... an eye-opening delight from start to finish.' Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisRemarkable new discoveries affirm the octopus as one of nature's most intelligent and complex animals. This new book - written by the beloved author of the international bestseller The Soul of an Octopus and enhanced with vivid National Geographic photography - brings us closer than ever to these elusive creatures.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Princeton is known for the high quality of its book production and this offering is no exception – the picture quality, especially, is spectacular. This book is a must for UK nudibranch divers."---Steve Weinman, Divernet"A fine book which will no doubt become the invaluable companion of divers, underwater photographers, and naturalists exploring coastal waters. I doubt they'll leave home without it."---David M. Gascoigne, Travels With Birds"This guide is a very welcome addition to my bookshelf/dive crate. Whether you are relatively new to nudibranch spotting, photographing and recording, or have been an enthusiast for many years, this guidebook is going to really help support you with identification."---Kate Lock, Porcupine Marine Natural History Society

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Book SynopsisThe reef guide documents some 800 reef fishes and invertebrates found along the east and south coasts of southern Africa. Following on the success of Dennis King's earlier two titles, this impressive new guide features 578 species of fish and includes sections on anemones, starfish, snails, crabs and shrimps. Full-colour photographs and descriptive text for each species, along with useful and interesting information, make for easy identification. While focusing on southern Africa, the book is also applicable to the entire east coast of Africa, as well as the islands of the western Indian Ocean - Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Maldives. Indispensable for divers, snorkelers and rock-pool enthusiasts, as well as fishermen and marine aquarists.

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Book SynopsisOtters by Nicola Chester is an accessible and lively account of an intriguing and much-loved animal that, surprisingly, is still endangered and rarely seen despite a recent resurgence that has seen it expand from the remote countryside into our cities.Nicola's charming, informed text brings this elusive and exciting mammal into sharper focus revealing what an otter is, and how they live, feed, play and breed. Nicola reflects on how otters exist in our imaginations culturally and how that has changed over the years. She also examines the many challenges otters have faced, exposing what brought them to the brink of extinction, and explores the challenges we face in trying to find and watch otters in the wild.Each Spotlight title is carefully designed to introduce readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite birds and mammals.Trade ReviewA slim, stylish volume. * Scotland Outdoors *Table of Contents1) Meet the Otter 2) A Riverine Life 3) Family Play 4) Tarka 5) Mij and Mouse 6) Threats 7) Conservation 8) Spotting an Otter 9) Salty dogs 10) An Ottery Glossary Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The authors take you on a magnificent journey alongside orcas, bringing these beautiful creatures to life. Numerous perspectives that intertwine science, traditional knowledge and personal experiences reveal how strongly we're interconnected with these majestic, intelligent neighbours that live in the Salish Sea. The emerging picture shows how orcas are an integral part of human existence and fuels my personal and professional passion to do everything possible to help them thrive. These stories seamlessly make the reader a part of the orcas' history and fate." Jay Ritchlin, Director General, BC and Western Canada, David Suzuki Foundation"In Spirits of the Coast ...orca experts, artists, storytellers, and Indigenous wisdom keepers issue an invitation to understand, celebrate, and come together to protect these marvelous marine mammals." Kristine Morris, Foreword Reviews"This book is the perfect blend of science, history, art, folklore and culture. Orcas are a huge part of life on the west coast of Canada and Vancouver Island. The image of the Orca is ever-present. This book is a wonderful trip into the world of these magnificent creatures and what they have meant to us over time." Charlotte Kinzie, Kinzie Things"The book, which is both a history lesson and a proposal for the future, is packed with thoughtful insights, historical perspectives and traditional First Nations stories. It also visually shines, with a wide range of beautiful artwork and photography. It's that inclusion of visual storytelling that makes this book so accessible and a great addition to any coffee table or bookshelf." Vancouver Sun"Its luminous, large-format pages offer everything from Haida storytelling to marine biology, all to show our too-often-ignored kinship with this astonishing animal." Brian Lynch, Georgia Straight"This book is not just recalling the history of relationship between humans and orcas but is laying the groundwork for deciding, each of us, what that relationship could look like in the future." Amy Reiswig, Focus on Victoria"Anyone looking for an introduction to the history, science and cultural significance of the orca could do no better than to start here." Daniel Francis, Ormsby Review"A magnificent journey alongside orcas, bringing these beautiful creatures to life." -- Jay Ritchlin, David Suzuki Foundation

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Book SynopsisA fascinating journey into the extraordinary world of the king of fish: the salmon. This beautiful book explores the natural history of this most mysterious of fishes.Trade Review‘Mr Wigan is a skilled researcher and evocative writer’ Wall Street Journal ‘The Salmon is less a scholarly tome and more of a call to arms on behalf of the salmon.’ Chicago Tribune ‘If you think you have read it all before, let me assure you that you haven't. The Salmon is quite the best book I've read on the subject, skilfully told with wit and a wry turn of phrase […] This is a fishing book, scientific analysis, tragedy, love story, history and story of hope rolled into one.’ Classic Angling ‘Although there are occasional passages about the passionate experience of angling, this is no mere sport fisherman’s celebration – it is a forensic, and often caustic, analysis of the historical interaction between humans and 'the silver wanderer’ Country Life ‘It's an absolute must read for anyone even remotely interested in the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon’ Atlantic Salmon Journal ‘Extremely well-informed’ Literary Review ‘Michael Wigan gives us passionate advocacy on behalf of the wild Atlantic salmon. Above all he recognises the salmon as environmental indicator – “the hydrographer’s fish” – as well as cultural icon and economic driver.’ Tony Andrews, director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust ‘The life cycle of the salmon comes alive in Wigan’s passionate book … a highly readable account of the king of fish.’ Shooting Times

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Book SynopsisWhether you would like to learn how to build a bird box, dig a hedgehog tunnel or implement broader environmental changes in your community, this practical guide to saving our most endangered species will teach you how you can help on an individual, local and national level.Focusing on thirty of our most loved and most at risk' inhabitants, this uplifting and hopeful book will give naturalists of any age the tools to respond to the SOS calls heard from their garden, local park and beyond.Featured species include: Hedgehog Shrill Carder Bee Red Squirrel Skylark Puffin Barn Owl Seahorse Bottle-nose Dolphin

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A lyrical companion to his father’s classic, chronicling their family’s history and bond with Montana’s Blackfoot River. His storytelling—from the fishing with his dad to the life and death of his uncle Paul—is reliable, elegant and charming. … Spectacularly vivid and personal. … While Maclean’s journalistic prose is sharp and concise, it can also be beautiful.” — Washington Post "The prose in Home Waters, which is often transporting, flows with a shadow-cast grace. ... The best word I can think of to describe Home Waters also happens to be the Maclean’s family word: beautiful." — Field & Stream "A memoir about the Maclean family’s four-generation tie to Montana’s Blackfoot River that elaborates on the back story of Norman Maclean’s extraordinary 1976 novella A River Runs Through It." — Wall Street Journal "Maclean’s father, Norman, wrote the classic novella A River Runs through It. This memoir is an ode to its inspirations." — New York Times Book Review, "New & Noteworthy" "Graceful and compelling. ... Greatly expands what we might already know about Montana, fly fishing and the meaning of family. ... This is a great book." — Chicago Tribune “A worthy non-fiction companion to his father’s classic, A River Runs Through It. … Reminded me of Herman Melville recounting whaling minutiae in Moby Dick. … Throughout Home Waters, Maclean shows that he’s a real writer. But he’s also a real reporter with a long career for the Chicago Tribune." — Chicago Sun-Times “A wonderful book about fathers, sons, brothers, and family." — USA Today “A moving memoir of a family’s love affair with the Blackfoot River in Montana. … Lovers of literature and nature will be captivated by this heartfelt tribute to place and family.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “In this welcome companion to an American classic, John N. Maclean casts a story of place, family, and legacy: of highland streams and woodlands, and the gifts waiting in their depths; of a quiet father with much to share; and of the sometimes meandering, sometimes tumbling courses that carry us through life. A spare, patient, and compelling reminiscence that stays with you.” — Earl Swift, New York Times bestselling author of Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island "Finally, a brilliant, intimate, and reliable chronicle of the remarkable Maclean family and the origins of a great book, welded seamlessly to the memorable angling days and writing life of a central member. I loved Home Waters." — Nick Lyons, author of Spring Creek "I can honestly say I loved Home Waters. Reading it felt like a visit with old friends--the characters from A River Runs through It—who you haven’t seen in a long while, during which you learned some things you’d never known before. John N. Maclean’s book does a wonderful job of illustrating the importance of family and place—something we can all relate to even if the particulars of our stories are very different." — Kirby Lambert, Montana Historical Society “John Maclean's Home Waters is a wonderful reflection on how a sense of place and shared activity, especially sport, defines our lives, our families, and the meaning we find in them.” — David Brooks, executive director, Montana Trout Unlimited “Maclean’s Hemingway-esque prose is as clear as a mountain stream, flowing with a poetic cadence and lyrically describing the many splendid natural treasures to be found under the Big Sky. A sure bet for readers who enjoy American and natural history and a must-read for fishing enthusiasts.” — Booklist “Maclean offers a lyrical love letter to Montana’s Blackfoot River, fishing, and his storied family in this captivating memoir. … Fans of his father’s novella will relish the details that served as its inspiration and are here rendered in Maclean’s sharp yet poetic prose. … This richly observed narrative is sure to reel readers in.” — Publishers Weekly “The mythology of fly-fishing in the West is richer because of this book.” — Angler's Journal "A must-read. ... Its narrative revolves around relationships rooted in Montana's favorite pastime, connecting with anyone who covets the meditative value of casting for trout on familiar rivers. ... Pick up a copy to read this summer and let your mind wander to the waters you call home." — Outside Bozeman “Even if you aren’t a fly-fishing aficionado and don’t know a wet fly from a dry one, you just might be hooked within the first few pages as Maclean reels you into this engaging book of family, place and history.” — Helena Independent Record "John Maclean has filled in the holes of his father’s story with Home Waters. Where Norman used his book to make his peace with his past, John’s narrative shows how his dad, like a savvy trout that always avoids the hook, learned to distinguish truth from imitation and pass that wisdom on to the next generation. ... John didn’t fall far from the Maclean writing tree. Like his father, the longtime Chicago Tribune writer has an affinity for crafting his experiences in aesthetic tones." — Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star "In Home Waters, John Maclean brings readers back to his family’s love of Seeley Lake and a life spent out of doors, a life marked by both magic and tragedy, but always by fly fishing for trout. Good reading." — Petoskey News-Review "A testament to the power of place and the love that binds us, throughout the generations. Home Waters is a keeper." — Flathead Living Magazine "Wonderful...Maclean tells his life story in his own way, uniquely and with eloquence and style." — The Piscatorial Journal

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Book Synopsis“A necessary book for anyone truly interested in what we take from the sea to eat, and how, and why.” —Sam Sifton, The New York Times Book ReviewAcclaimed author of American Catch and The Omega Princple and life-long fisherman, Paul Greenberg takes us on a journey, examining the four fish that dominate our menus: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna. Investigating the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, Greenberg reveals our damaged relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants. Just three decades ago, nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild. Today, rampant overfishing and an unprecedented biotech revolution have brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex marketplace. Four Fish offers a way for us to move toward a future in which healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.

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Book SynopsisAsk anyone to picture a bird or a fish and a series of clear images will immediately come to mind. Ask the same person to picture plankton and most would have a hard time conjuring anything beyond a vague squiggle or a greyish fleck. This book explains the biological underpinnings of each species while connecting them to the larger living world.Trade Review"A stunningly beautiful work of art that is sure to draw the reader into this world typically missed by all but a few oceanographers and marine biologists." -Karen Osborn, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural HistoryTable of ContentsPrologue, by Mark Ohman Introduction. Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World What Are Plankton? Plankton and Man The Origins: Life Shapes the Planet Explosions, Extinctions, and Evolution of Life in the Ocean A Chronological History of the Planet and the Tree of Life Taxonomy and Phylogeny: Hierarchical Categorizations Organisms of All Sizes, with Different Roles and Behavior Collecting and Identifying Plankton, Then and Now Plankton of the World Villefranche-sur-Mer, France: A Bay Famous for Its Plankton Between Ecuador and Galapagos: Tara Oceans Expedition South Carolina, United States: Salt Marsh Estuaries Izu Peninsula and Shimoda, Japan: Autumn Plankton Unicellular Creatures: From the Origins of Life Bacteria, Archaea, and Viruses: Invisible but Omnipresent Unicellular Protists: Precursors of Plants and Animals Phytoplankton Coccolithophores and Foraminifera: Limestone Architects Diatoms and Dinoflagellates: Silicate or Cellulose Houses Radiolarians: Polycystines and Acantharians: Symbiosis at the Ocean Surface Ciliates, Tintinnids, and Choanoflagellates: Motility and Multicellularity Ctenophores and Cnidarians: Ancestral Forms Ctenophores: Carnivorous Comb Jellies Jellyfish: Equipped to Survive Siphonophores: The Longest Animals in the World Velella, Porpita, and Physalia: Planktonic Sailors Crustaceans and Mollusks: Champions of Diversity Crustacean Larvae: Molting and Metamorphosis Copepods to Amphipods: Variations on a Theme Phronima: Monster in a Barrel Pteropods and Heteropods: Mollusks That Swim with Their Feet Cephalopods and Nudibranchs: Beautiful Colors and Camouflage Worms and Tadpoles: Arrows, Tubes, and Nets Chaetognaths: Arrows in the Oceans Polychaete Annelids: Worms in the Sea Salps, Doliolids, and Pyrosomes: Highly Evolved Gelatinous Animals Larvaceans: Tadpoles That Live in a Net Embryos and Larvae Epilogue Acknowledgments Bibliography, Websites Credits Index

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Book SynopsisExploring everything from giant squid to sea birds, sharks to sperm whales, this epic voyage with scholar and seafarer Richard J. King provides a new way of approaching Melville's classic sea-yarn: as a book about nature itself.Trade Review"A unique take on Melville...The book is unquestionably well researched: King blends library research with personal experience and draws on interviews with contemporary 'oceanic' professionals, including maritime-historian colleagues, ocean scientists, and sailors. He also provides scores of photographs and other pertinent illustrations. Anyone interested in Melville will find this rich and insightful study fascinating--but those readers curious enough to see Moby-Dick as an oceanographic encyclopedia will benefit most."--J. W. Miller, Gonzaga University "Choice" "An exquisitely detailed and gorgeously written book that reminds us of the wonder of Melville's novel and of the natural world in which it takes place. Fascinating accounts and descriptions of whales, swordfish, sharks, giant squid, ambergris, etc., and of the sea itself: then and now. And informed by a writer who has spent years at sea, is now a professor of maritime literature and history at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. King gives an original, loving rereading of Melville's novel. He is himself a master storyteller whose handsomely illustrated book is deeply informed and full of delightful surprises."--Jay Neugeboren "Ploughshares" "King's book ballasts one's appreciation for Melville's vision with rich freights of lore, observation, scientific data, and history of ideas. It is an admirable companion to the novel and the mind bold enough to bring it into the world."-- "The Nautilus" "Tired of binge-watching those mind-numbing programs and movies? During this pandemic, we've been warned to exercise regularly and that includes our brain. With extra time for nonessential activities, it's an opportunity to read a few good books--especially venturing into unfamiliar territory. . . . This book is excellent. Even if you haven't read Melville's classic of sea literature, you will be amazed at his command of the environmental world that is its setting. . . . What King says will entertain, inform, amuse and sadden you."--JoAnne Fuerst "The Ellsworth American" "King gives us natural history done Melville-style, looking over a ship's rail, and this ingenious focus neatly weds field science and literary history, yielding a study that is fresh, provocative, and welcome."--William Howarth "American Scholar" "Ultimately, answering these questions involves poetry more than science. Melville has combined the rational, objective, Darwinian perspective with the emotional, poetic, Emersonian perspective, pushing the reader to see nature as both dangerous and damaged. Here is King's main point: that Melville's novel can now be read as an introduction to environmental issues of the twenty-first century."--John P. Loonam "Washington Independent Review of Books" "Richard J King's Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick is both a brilliant reading of the novel and an elegy for the wonders of the sea that we humans are destroying."-- "New Statesman" "Employing Melville's maritime setting as a base camp for this ambitious excursion into our present-day relationship with the ocean and its denizens, Ahab's Rolling Sea is that rarest of scholarly books: one that delights as it informs. . . . Key to the book's success is King's skill as a writer. He weaves impressive research--much of it archival--with his own insightful and enthusiastic prose. Topping it off, the book is filled with a rich assemblage of illustrations, maps, and photographs. King writes, 'Like the industry of whaling itself, Melville reveled in the chance to show how the ugly, dirty deep revealed both man's hypocrisies and nature's treasures.' The same can be said of Ahab's Rolling Sea, a book that, like Melville's novel and like the wonders of the ocean, manages to thrill, to educate, and to inspire."--Matthew Wynn Sivils "Isis" "The chance that someone could write something new and fresh about such a book seems as unlikely as a big haul from our over-fished oceans, yet King achieves this. . . He has produced a powerful ecocritical analysis of Moby-Dick, reinforcing the novel as essential reading for all who sail, paddle, wander or simply ponder on the sea."--Mandy Haggith, Inverness College, University of the Highlands and Islands "Green Letters" "Ahab's Rolling Sea is a wide-ranging, highly personal, richly eclectic, and extremely well-researched book whose style and humor, combined with its rigor, suggest the potential for popularity even beyond the fascinations of this self-confessed whalehead. Who could not warm to a chapter titled 'Gulls, Sea-Ravens, and Albatrosses' or 'Sword-Fish and Lively Grounds, ' or be intrigued by 'Phosphorescence'? There's a Melvillean romance here, and it sits especially well with King's love and empathy for human as well as natural history. A contemporary, witty, almost postmodern field guide."--Philip Hoare, author of RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR, The Sea Inside, The Whale, and Leviathan "Anyone who loves Moby-Dick should read this book."--Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the National Book Award-winning In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and Why Read 'Moby-Dick'? "Are you? a Moby-Dickhead? If so, are you enough of a Moby-Dickhead to have visited the Phallological Museum in Iceland to inspect a sperm whale's penis? This is one of the many intrepid expeditions undertaken by King in the course of researching Ahab's Rolling Sea. His book, like Moby-Dick itself, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about whales but were too ashamed to ask. The fact that the sperm whale's penis, or 'grandissimus', is four and a half feet long is just one of its juicier details. . . . It turns out that, with due allowance for the state of knowledge in the 1850s, Melville got a surprising amount right about whales: their size, their bone structure, their mass, even their emotional lives. . . . Anyone who isn't completely turned off by sea creatures will enjoy surfing the waves of information that roll genially from this book. Ahab's Rolling Sea also has a big thesis. King argues that Moby-Dick offers a 'proto-Darwinian decentring of the human and the elevation of the whale.' . . . It would be hard to fault either the motives or the facts underlying King's ecological zeal."-- "London Review of Books" "Depending on who you are, reading Moby-Dick, first published in 1851, could be a sleep-inducing slog or a stellar sea yarn of man versus whale. But the book has (sea) legs, and since its release has proved to be one of the most enduring books of American fiction. Its literary merits have been discussed and debated, but King, a professor of maritime literature and history, examines the book as a work of nature writing . . . He does extensive reporting, delving into everything from the rigging of whaleships to the diet of sperm whales."-- "Hakai Magazine" "Herman Melville's sprawling masterpiece Moby-Dick is a fictional feat studded with empirical evidence, reveals maritime historian King in this invigorating study. King traces references to ethology, meteorology, marine microbiota and the oceans to Melville's sailing experience in the Pacific and wranglings with the works of scientists William Scoresby, Louis Agassiz and others. Moby-Dick, King boldly avers, is a 'proto-Darwinian fable'--and its beleaguered narrator, Ishmael, an early environmentalist."-- "Nature" "It took me decades to appreciate that Melville's messy, uncontainable, surging Moby-Dick is perhaps the greatest book ever written about the sea, and about the human relationship with the living world, and perhaps the only book sufficiently un-jaded by mercantilism and modernity to be worthy of the actual ocean itself in all its raw, uncontrollable, surging majesty. But if you don't want to wait decades for Melville's magnificence to be revealed, you can cheat and read King's book. Ahab's Rolling Sea is a marvelous guide to the magic and mystery that was Melville's gift to us, for King reveals the deep, deep backstory of the making of Moby-Dick, the vast pots of experience and information that Melville simmered down, and even the missing ingredients of his age, that made Moby-Dick the richest bouillabaisse in all of literature. Oh, and about Melville's missing ingredients--they're here, in King's terrific book."--Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World's Coasts and Beneath the Seas and Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace "King decisively settles any lingering questions about Moby-Dick, nineteenth-century whales and whaling, and all lore and literature of the sea. More than establishing a factual basis for Ishmael's fiction-making, King writes passionately on climate change, economic pressures on sea creatures, and the future Melville confronts in his marvelous encounter with the 'wonder-world' of whaling. King's deep knowledge grounds lively storytelling, keen observations drawn from years of sailing, and an eye for details that will make Melville's book come alive. But even if you haven't read Moby-Dick, you will revel in this storehouse of fascinating tales and arcana, from Ambergris to Zeuglodon. A treasure for library, classroom, or bedside table."--Wyn Kelley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Melville's City: Literary and Urban Form in Nineteenth-Century New York and Herman Melville: An Introduction "King dissects the language and information available to Melville, including books found within Melville's library, and identifies how edited versions of what was understood at the time were twisted to serve the story. The reader comes to appreciate Melville's thorough natural history research, especially in light of the fact that Moby-Dick was written at a time when it was not yet decided whether whales were fish or mammals, and when scientific knowledge was shoehorned into a religious worldview...I thoroughly enjoyed King's well-researched analysis of the classic tale which 'offers a benchmark for how Americans understood the ocean in the mid-nineteenth century' and in doing so, compares and contrasts this with our perceptions of the ocean today."-- "The Niche" "King reflects on what we have learned and lost from the oceans since Melville's time. He answers questions many readers surely ponder. . . . Naturally, the book is full of spoilers. Read Moby-Dick, read this, then read Moby-Dick again."-- "BBC Wildlife" "King, a visiting associate professor of maritime literature and history (what a fascinating title this is!), runs after the Leviathan of literary semantics in the most imaginative way: testing what Melville and people of his era knew about their natural environment, maritime ecosystems, birds, cetaceans, and whales before he published Moby-Dick in 1851. . . . King does his best not to be another Ahab seeing his 'White Whale' escaping. And he actually makes it: from the detailed research of the marine fauna to the possible influences of Emerson, Thoreau, Darwin, Bowditch on Melville. This is the retelling of Moby-Dick from an imaginative point of view: from the Pequod towards the cosmos surrounding us in the era of new environmentalism."--Dimitris Doulgeridis "TA NEA (Greece)" "Simply breathtaking, in that it takes one's breath away and refills the lungs with a gust of salty sea breeze...Ahab's Rolling Sea collects accounts from literary criticism, theory, climate activism, and natural history for a deep dive into one of the most popular maritime novels around--Herman Melville's Moby-Dick...The relatability and readability of Ahab's Rolling Sea, at a time when the sea has much receded from daily life, is a testament to King's pedagogical, sailorly, and descriptive mastery. King invites us to stand aloft with him and Ishmael, and look out toward the wonderful, ever-rolling sea. Maybe, if we look close enough, we will even get to see a whale."--Alison Maas "H-Environment" "This examination of Moby-Dick as nature writing could be a sneaky way to get the English majors on your shopping list to read about science."-- "American Scientist" (12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM) "This is a superb work of popular scholarship that rivals the best books of maritime nonfiction currently in print. For any teacher, reader, or aficionado of Melville's magnum opus the present work will be a joy to read; for anyone curious about the current state of the marine environment, this book will be eye-opening."--Dan Brayton, Middlebury College, author of "Shakespeare's Ocean: An Ecocritical Exploration" "Ahab's Rolling Sea highlights our destructiveness as it teases fact from fiction in Moby-Dick, the obsessive hunt for a great white whale. . . . Rigorous. . . . Original."--Chris Simms "New Scientist" "A rather schematic structure--Ahab's Rolling Sea could be used as a reference book, a zoological concordance to Moby-Dick--is combined with a genuinely gripping retelling of the tale."--Brian Morton "Times Literary Supplement" (1/17/2020 12:00:00 AM) "A treasure trove. King situates Melville as a person of his time, writing amid a quickening pace of discoveries about the natural world but, pre-On the Origin of Species, inclined to couch them as further disclosures of God's design."--Stephen Phillips "Spectator" "I'm an easy mark for books like Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of 'Moby-Dick, ' which I've read a perhaps unhealthy number of times, in light of Annie Dillard's opinion that Melville's baggy masterpiece is the 'best book ever written about nature.' Focusing on nineteenth century oceanography, natural history, and, of course, the whalers' understanding of his prey's remarkable intelligence, King's book is a fascinating and rare thing: a vital addition to Melville studies."--Stephen Sparks "LitHub, 12 Books You Should Read This October" "King uses modern sources and historical texts to take a fresh look at Melville's book--published in the same decade as Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species--with the well-defined brief of assessing its natural history content. The result is a lighthearted and incredibly enjoyable read that manages somehow, at the right moments, to be both broad and narrow in scope. It should be required reading for anyone attempting Moby-Dick. . . . No captive of the library, King is an experienced seaman and an open-minded and intrepid guide. A visiting associate professor of maritime literature and history at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, he is willing to pull on his old Sou'wester and sail into the watery part of the world. . . . King writes ably and in scholarly detail about albatrosses, ambergris, baleen, barnacles, seals, sharks, sperm whale behavior and language, swordfish, typhoons, and all sorts of marine and cetological marginalia. . . . [A] talented and clear-eyed . . . writer."--Christopher J. Kemp "Science"Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Herman Melville: Whaleman, Author, Natural Philosopher 2. Numerous Fish Documents 3. Cetology and Evolution 4. White Whales and Natural Theology 5. Whale Migration 6. Wind 7. Gulls, Sea-Ravens, and Albatrosses 8. Small Harmless Fish 9. Phosphorescence 10. Sword-Fish and Lively Grounds 11. Brit and Baleen 12. Giant Squid 13. Sharks 14. Fresh Fare 15. Barnacles and Sea Candies 16. Practical Cetology: Spout, Senses, and the Dissection of Heads 17. Whale and Human Intelligence 18. Ambergris 19. Coral Insects 20. Grandissimus 21. Whale Skeletons and Fossils 22. Does the Whale Diminish? 23. Mother Carey’s Chickens 24. Typhoons and Corpusants 25. Navigation 26. Seals 27. The Feminine Air 28. Noiseless Nautilus 29. Sperm Whale Behavior 30. Sky-Hawk 31. Ishmael: Blue Environmentalist and Climate Refugee Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography Figure Credits and Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFifth revised edition of the classic natural history of the killer whale, now up to date with the latest research, conservation news and changes in public awareness.Trade Review[Review of previous edition: ] A well-written, balanced account ... interspersed in the story are excellent summaries of our current knowledge about orca attacks, feeding behavior and hearing acuity. Aside from maps and photos, 8 well-referenced appendixes and a 14-page bibliography make it an important reference source for scientists.--Edward Mitchell, Arctic Biological Station [Canada "Canadian Geographic " [Review of previous edition: ] There is nothing wildlife needs more urgently than truth, for once people understand, people will act with preserved habitat, protective legislation, the tools of conservation. Erich Hoyt tells the truth about the orca in his fascinating book Orca: The Whale Called Killer. It is in itself a conservation tool. Required reading.--Roger Caras "ABC-TV News " [Review of previous edition: ] An enchanting story of adventure and discovery, one told with style, insight, charm and thoroughness.--Akron Beacon Journal [Review of previous edition: ] An engaging picture of the life of killer whales ... Hoyt's style is easygoing and comfortable, and as well organized as it is informative.--Cleveland Plain Dealer [Review of previous edition: ] An intensely personal account....Scientific, political, and historical details are woven into a highly readable narrative...thorough appendixes, lengthy bibliography. Recommended.--Library Journal [Review of previous edition: ] Monumental achievement...the best whale book in years.--Ronn Patterson "Oceans " [Review of previous edition: ] I have never read a better book on whales, partly because Hoyt writes so well ... The developing relationship between the whale-watchers and these magnificent mammals makes absorbing reading ... The book contains valuable scientific and historical appendixes and an excellent index ... Don't miss it!--Philadelphia Inquirer [Review of previous edition: ] Superb ... A fine story of adventure ... One of the best nature books of the year.--Publishers Weekly [Review of previous edition: ] A fine record of observations accumulated by patience and cautious persistence...presented somewhat in diary form of the summers with the whales, and interwoven with facts....The result is a well-compounded blend of close-up nature observation, scientific knowledge, and history. Bonuses are interesting asides on the scenery and wildlife, the lumbering, salmon fishing, and the local flavor of northern Vancouver Island. Hoyt's theme is preserve killer whales in their natural environment. He makes a good argument for it.--Elizabeth N. Shor, Scripps Institute of Oceanograp "San Diego Union Tribune "

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Book SynopsisMarine researchers are discovering new ocean creatures every day, from the warm surface water to the deepest seabed. From the author of Creatures of the Deep and other books about the ocean and the creatures that live there, comes this updated softcover edition about some of the most unusual marine life forms.

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