What the wild sea can be The future of the world's ocean

Review by Booklist Review

Marine biologist Scales follows The Brilliant Abyss (2021), a look at deep-sea exploration, with this thorough overview of the current dismal state of the oceans and the diverse animals who depend on their vitality. Humanity's great challenge, she writes, is to find ways to reverse the damage done to marine ecosystems. Her approach to conveying the problem involves her looking back into deep history before considering present ills, making for a narrative so broad in perspective that readers might find themselves exhausted by the enormous amount of facts and references she presents. From trilobites to Apsley Cherry-Garrard's 1911 emperor penguin research to the present construction of housing in the flood-threatened Maldives and mining in the Pacific, Scales, whose knowledge is impressive, covers a multitude of topics. The depth and scope of this comprehensive narrative is best suited for environmentally informed readers eager to learn more about marine perils. They will be grateful to have such a learned guide for this important topic, and their faith in her expertise will be well rewarded.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

---

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This pragmatic study from marine biologist Scales (The Brilliant Abyss) examines how humans are endangering marine life and what might be done to save it. Noting that emperor penguins need to stay out of freezing Antarctic water for the several weeks per year they spend molting, Scales explains that a warmer climate will lead sea ice to break up prematurely, forcing penguins into the ocean before they have sufficient feathers to survive the frigid temperatures. Elsewhere, Scales describes how overfishing has depleted shark populations and how orcas are falling prey to toxic PCB chemicals once used in pesticides and paints that have leached from landfills into the ocean. Balancing the gloominess of the case studies with a robust and cautiously hopeful overview of how humans save these and other oceanic species, Scales recommends imposing an international legally binding cap on plastics production and strictly limiting deep-sea mining. She's clear-eyed about the threats facing the ocean and remarkably forthright about the sacrifices required to protect it. For instance, she argues that readers should accept rising costs and declining availability for certain seafoods as an unfortunate but unavoidable by-product of necessary measures to regulate industrial fishing and preserve ocean ecosystems. This will galvanize readers. Agent: Margaret Sutherland Brown, Folio Literary Management. (July)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

---

Review by Kirkus Book Review

A passionate look at how saving the seas is an essential part of saving ourselves. Scales is a highly respected marine biologist, and her books, including The Brilliant Abyss and Spirals in Time, are authoritative and entertaining. In her latest, the author turns her attention to the many problems facing the planet's oceans, from warming water temperatures to resource exploitation to pollution. Oceans have always been a dynamic system, but now, writes Scales, change is happening faster than marine animals and plant life can adapt, putting key species in danger across the world. Underlining the link between the ocean environment and human life, she examines unusual subjects such as kelp forests, which have a critical role in carbon absorption and are now under significant pressure. Increases in temperatures are affecting plankton growth, which will echo through the food chain. Limits on fish catches, and even outright bans, have proven to be effective in rebuilding stocks. Reintroducing animals such as sea otters in areas where they have disappeared has been successful, and the approach has had the added effect of regenerating kelp forests. There are also promising experiments in which corals have been cross-pollinated to create more heat-resistant types, which could have widespread positive effects for reefs worldwide. The collection of floating plastic garbage is underway, but the cleanup is a massive undertaking. Scales is pleased to see these measures, but she sees them as treating symptoms while the fundamental causes remain. She notes that she is half-pessimistic and half-optimistic about the future. "Living together on this blue planet, we are all ocean people," she writes. "We all depend on healthy seas for the air we breathe, for the falling rain, for the livable world we inhabit." The author's writing is lucid and compelling, featuring a nice mix of personal experience and convincing scientific data. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

---