At Sea with the Marine Birds of the Raincoast

By (author): Caroline Fox
ISBN 9781771601627
Softcover | Publication Date: May 10, 2016
Book Dimensions: 5.75 in x 7.75 in
272 Pages

About the Book

Winner, 2016 Lane Anderson Award for Best Canadian Science Writing
Shortlisted, Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Book on British Columbia.

An illustrated narrative that interweaves the shifting seasons of the Northwest Coast with the experiences of a conservation biologist surveying thousands of kilometres of open ocean in order to uncover the complex relationships between humans, marine birds and the realities of contemporary biodiversity.

At Sea with the Marine Birds of the Raincoast combines the natural and human histories of Pacific Northwest marine birds with Caroline Fox’s personal story of her life as a conservation scientist. Accompanied by vivid images, drawings and both archival and modern photography, the narrative follows the author as she sails the coast, documenting marine bird diversity and seasonal shifts in community assemblages.

This unique story captures the natural splendour and rich variety of marine birds feeding, breeding and undertaking spectacular, often trans-equatorial migrations along the Northwest Coast. Introducing some of the most fascinating yet poorly understood species, including albatrosses, puffins and cranes, this compelling read calls attention to the urgent conservation challenges faced by marine birds and their ecosystems, as well as their historically complex relationship with human society.

About the Author(s)

Dr. Caroline Fox is a conservation scientist, educator, and advocate for nature. Her research tends to focus on marine predators, species at risk, ecosystem interactions, and assessments of anthropogenic impacts on coastal ecosystems. Marine birds and their habitats are of particular interest. She is a longtime conservation scientist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Currently, she is also a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University and the University of Victoria. Caroline lives on Vancouver Island, which lies off Canada’s Pacific coast. .

Reviews

“Caroline Fox presents in the guise of an account of her experiences as a field biologist a wonderful memoir of coastal British Columbia.” – Stephen Bocking (Trent University), BC Studies