What the Wild Sea Can Be

Préface
An impassioned examination of the existential threats to the world's ocean and cautious optimism for the abundant life within it.

Auteur
Dr Helen Scales is a marine biologist, acclaimed author and broadcaster who explores the wonders and plight of the oceans and the living planet. Her books include The Brilliant Abyss and Spirals in Time. She writes for National Geographic Magazine, the Guardian and New Scientist, among others. She teaches at Cambridge University, is a storytelling ambassador for the Save Our Seas Foundation and science advisor for the marine conservation charity Sea Changers. Helen divides her time between Cambridge, England, and the wild Atlantic coast of France.

Résumé

No matter where we live, 'we are all ocean people,' Helen Scales observes in her bracing yet hopeful exploration of the future of the ocean. Beginning with its fascinating deep history, Scales links past to present to show how prehistoric ocean ecology holds lessons for the ocean of today. In elegant, evocative prose, she takes readers into the realms of animals that epitomize current increasingly challenging conditions, from emperor penguins to sharks and orcas.

Yet despite these threats, many hopeful signs remain. Increasing numbers of no-fish zones around the world are restoring once-diminishing populations. Astonishing giant kelp and sea grass forests, rivaling those on land, are being regenerated and expanded, while efforts to reengineer coral reefs for a warmer world are growing.

Offering innovative ideas for protecting coastlines and cleaning the toxic seas, Scales insists we need more ethical and sustainable fisheries and must prevent the other existential threat of deep-sea mining, which could significantly alter life on earth. Inspiring us all to maintain a sense of awe and wonder at the majesty beneath the waves, she urges us to fight for the better future that still exists for the Anthropocene ocean.