“This bracing history charts the myths, the exploration, and the inhabitants of the all-too-real and wild circumpolar ocean to our south.” —The Sydney Morning Herald, Pick of the Week Unlike the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans with their long maritime histories, little is known about the Southern Ocean. This book takes readers beyond the familiar heroic narratives of polar exploration to explore the nature of this stormy circumpolar ocean and its place in Western and Indigenous histories. Drawing from a vast archive of charts and maps, sea captains’ journals, whalers’ log books, missionaries’ correspondence, voyagers’ letters, scientific reports, stories, myths, and her own experiences, Joy McCann embarks on a voyage of discovery across its surfaces and into its depths, revealing its distinctive physical and biological processes as well as the people, species, events, and ideas that have shaped our perceptions of it. The result is both a global story of changing scientific knowledge about oceans and their vulnerability to human actions and a local one, showing how the Southern Ocean has defined and sustained southern environments and people over time. Beautifully and powerfully written, Wild Sea will raise a broader awareness and appreciation of the natural and cultural history of this little-known ocean and its emerging importance as a barometer of planetary climate change. “A sensitive portrait of a complex ecosystem, from krill to blue whales, and of the ice, winds, and currents that are critical to the circulation of the world’s oceans.” —Harper’s “Wilderness seekers will rejoice in this stirring portrait . . . McCann deftly navigates both natural glories and archival complexities.” —Nature
"When I sailed to Greenland with 1994 Whitbread Round the World Race winner Ross Field, I knew many yachties would want to know how Ross applied 35 years' ocean racing experience to the refit of his 20-year-old, 55ft aluminium sloop; how he managed his boat at sea, especially through North Atlantic storms; follow closely as Ross weather-routed us around dangerous storms and hear some war stories from his yacht racing days. Wild Seas to Greenland has many tips for safer, more comfortable cruising, as well as a glimpse of the wildlife and people we met in an extraordinary Arctic destination."--www.rebeccahayter.co.nz.
Explores America's twelve marine sanctuaries, from the relics of lost ships at Monitor Marine Sanctuary in North Carolina to the huge underwater cliffs in Monterey Bay, California.
FELIMID MAC FAL IS BACK . . . WITH THE BEAUTIFUL PIRATE GUDRUN BLACKHAIR AT HIS SIDE! I am called Felimid mac Fal. I am a bard of the old blood, a lesser degree of Druid. Where I come from, bards have been known to sing armies to defeat or victory and kings off their thrones or on to them. Descended from the faery folk, the Tuatha de Danann, my line's been poets and harpers in Erin since the world was new, and magic's in our heart-marrow. She is called Gudrun Blackhair . . . as well as names a good deal less polite. She is the most dangerous pirate on the open seas, master of the enchanted ship Ormungandr, and the woman of my heart. If you wish to know more than that, ask the ballad, singers and gossip mongers at any tavern. Half of what you hear will be fact, half will be lies, and even I can no longer separate the two. Yet this story perhaps the strangest of them all, of shapeshifters and sorceresses and the sea-dwelling Children of Lir, is naught but the gods' own truth. . . . on my honor as a bard.
This is the story of two men who followed their dream of crossing an ocean and discovered the adventure of a lifetime. Former army officer, mountaineer and film stuntsman Mike Noel-Smith couldn't resist when his friend Rob Abernethy called him up one day and suggested the ultimate challenge becoming the first Britons to row the Indian Ocean. The pair took advice from expert seamen, studied weather charts, trained for months, and planned the trip down to the last detail. But like many before them, they discovered that the sea is a dangerous and ungovernable mistress, capable of turning from calm to lethal rage. This is a pacey, often funny, and ultimately touching tale of courage, fear, love and bloody mindedness in the face of the unconquerable power of the ocean. Adventurous readers will wish they'd been able to join Mike and Rob on their unforgettable trip, sharing every twist and turn, triumph and disaster. The rest will be glad they stayed at home and enjoyed the book!
Wild Waters Never Sleep is an all new and best of collection of poetry from the author of From the Igloo Confessional, Winterland, and Venom and Nectar; Stefan Lowry. In this poetic voyage brimming with insight and words from the soul, the author entices the reader with poems that surge to another time and place wrapped around the threads of natures beauty. Returning to classical poetic themes yet written in contemporary forms, Wild Waters Never Sleep brings together the best of Stefan Lowrys canon of work over the last ten years while welcoming the reader into new seas of majestic atmospheres and enrapturing wonder. The eloquent yet grandeur of ancient China is brought to life in Nanjing Road; The Album, a tribute of sorts to the work and life of Li Po. Featuring poems such as The Chow Mein Lady, Gold Spun Rain, and The Peony Emperor. This brocade of written structures flows with the mighty waters that wind deep from the Far East into the readers imagination. The Cathedral Forest sees a return to nature that will remind readers of the authors first book, Flight of the Imagination. These pools of poetry take readers into Technicolor Rain, Kingdoms Under the Sun, and Bells Back Home. The next movement brings the Hummingbird Hotel to life in rich color and voice. A wanderlust set of poems, featuring Direct Light, Origami Glass, and To All the Saints. Maelstrom collects some of the authors best work over the last decade inside one frame. Including new versions and edits, revisit Far to the North, To Catch Mona Lisa, and Procession of the Flying Seahorses. Finally, Wild Waters brings us to Canadian Creek, a cozy simple collection the author penned over ten years ago and has never been published till now. Maple Leaf Mine, Prosper O Newfoundland, and Legende de un Province and more take us to a faraway place of solitude and quiet beauty. This collection comes round full circle from a writer who continues to emerge with new word art and the blending of traditional and contemporary, giving readers something new to always discover. The currents in Wild Waters Never Sleep flow and ebb to new literary shores, and remind the reader the beauty and adventure that is poetic art.
In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.
Sea otters once ruled the Pacific Ocean, but the fur trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought this predator to near extinction. Today they’re slowly coming back from the brink, and scientists are learning more about their pivotal role as one of nature’s keystone species. This book looks at the history, biology, behavior and uncertain future of sea otters. Author and photojournalist Isabelle Groc takes us into the field: watching sea otter rafts off the British Columbia coast from a kayak, exploring what makes their fur coats so special, understanding how their voracious appetites are helping kelp forests thrive and, ultimately, learning how sea otters are leaving their mark (or paws) on every part of the ecosystem. They might be one of the most adorable creatures in the ocean, but kids will discover how their survival is key to a rich, complex and connected ecosystem.