New to the catalogue

(Photo credit: One World Publications)

We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the depths of the seas and yet 70% of our planet’s surface is water. The global oceans are vital for all life, providing most of our oxygen and regulating the climate, and they are undergoing far reaching changes as a result of the actions of mankind. Join journalist Alanna Mitchell as she travels the world examining this effect and explains why it should matter to us.

Mitchell journeys from Plymouth to Panama, visiting the planet’s ocean hot spots. She enjoys the wonder of witnessing coral spawning, and examines the ominous, oxygen free ‘dead zones’ of our seas. She looks at how overfishing has made it mark and how the impact of this will be felt most keenly by those living in the coastal areas of the poorest countries. She translates the science of ocean acidification and coral bleaching, and meets the experts who are attempting to understand and manage the crisis facing our seas. 

This is a fascinating and important book that highlights how we are now standing at a junction where we can either chose to carry on regardless and leave the oceans, and ourselves, to their fate, or we can chose to change.

You can find further details of Seasick in our catalogue.

(Photo credit: Harper Collins)

On 10 January 1992, 28,800 children’s bath toys – an assortment of turtles, ducks and frogs – were washed from a cargo ship and spilled in the Pacific Ocean. Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer began a unique experiment and tracked their progress with the help of a worldwide network of beachcombers.  

This is a fascinating book that follows the amazing journey of the ‘Floatees’ across the Pacific to the far flung shores of Japan and Alaska, with some even washing up on the beaches of Scotland. By following the journey of these bath toys alongside that of other flotsam, Ebbesmeyer helped to produce a groundbreaking study of ocean currents.

Not too scientific for general reading, the author also explains his own fascination with the sea and how this shaped his life and career. This book is peppered with interesting tales such as how the Vikings used flotsam to determine where to settle on Iceland, and how Atlantic debris led Columbus to the new world. It describes how Edgar Allan Poe popularised the message in a bottle in the 19^th century, and how bottles have since been used to transport political and religious messages as well as art, a last will and testament, and the occasional ‘Barcardigram’.

However, there is a serious message at the heart of this book. No matter how helpful to science this floating debris has been, Ebbesmeyer highlights the negative impact of the huge amount of plastic waste we dump into the ocean. From vast, floating garbage islands to the tinniest of nurdles, plastic is an increasingly destructive part of the marine ecosystem.  

You can find further details about Flotsametrics and the Floating World in our catalogue.