Paul Chanin has substantially updated his original book on otters for this new volume. He reports on the results of recent research studies and comments on what is now known about the causes of the decline and the eventual recovery of this charming - and still very elusive - mammal.A feature of the book is the beautiful and accurate line drawings and cartoons by renowned wildlife artist Guy Troughton. This special edition also features an eight-page gallery of stunning colour photographs.

This is an invitation to readers to ponder universal questions about human relations with rivers and water for the precarious times of the Anthropocene. The book asks how humans can learn through sensory embodied encounters with local waterways that shape the architecture of cities and make global connections with environments everywhere. The book considers human becomings with urban waterways to address some of the major conceptual challenges of the Anthropocene, through stories of trauma and healing, environmental activism, and encounters with the living beings that inhabit waterways. Its unique contribution is to bring together Australian Aboriginal knowledges with contemporary western, new materialist, posthuman and Deleuzean philosophies, foregrounding how visual, creative and artistic forms can assist us in thinking beyond the constraints of western thought to enable other modes of being and knowing the world for an unpredictable future. Riverlands of the Anthropocene will be of particular interest to those studying the Anthropocene through the lenses of environmental humanities, environmental education, philosophy, ecofeminism and cultural studies.

Seals are the sleekest and most agile of all marine mammals, and they are superbly adapted to the watery world in which they spend most of their time. With their whiskery dog-like faces, curious nature and vulnerable pups, they are enduringly appealing animals. Although air-breathing, seals are superbly tuned to hunt, sleep, mate and keep warm while out at sea, but they remain inextricably linked to land. In Spotlight Seals, Frances Dipper explores the intricate lives of the UK's native Grey and Common Seals and their amazing physical and behavioural adaptations to a life split between land and sea. She reveals the complex physiology that allows seals to dive deep and for long periods without coming to any harm. Once exploited for their meat and skins, seals now have protection around the British Isles. Their numbers are increasing, but they still face the danger of plastic litter in their environment. Dipper also explores age-old legends, interactions between humans and seals, and the best places to watch them in the UK. The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite animals with eye-catching colour photographs and informative expert text.

Rising at 11,750 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range and snaking 926 miles through New Mexico and Texas to the Rio Grande, the Pecos River is one of the most storied waterways in the American West. It is also one of the most troubled. In 1942, the National Resources Planning Board observed that the Pecos River basin ""probably presents a greater aggregation of problems associated with land and water use than any other irrigated basin in the Western U.S."" In the twenty-first century, the river's problems have only multiplied. Bitter Waters, the first book-length study of the entire Pecos, traces the river's environmental history from the arrival of the first Europeans in the sixteenth century to today. Running clear at its source and turning salty in its middle reach, the Pecos River has served as both a magnet of veneration and an object of scorn. Patrick Dearen, who has written about the Pecos since the 1980s, draws on more than 150 interviews and a wealth of primary sources to trace the river's natural evolution and man's interaction with it. Irrigation projects, dams, invasive saltcedar, forest proliferation, fires, floods, flow decline, usage conflicts, water quality deterioration - Dearen offers a thorough and clearly written account of what each factor has meant to the river and its prospects. As fine-grained in detail as it is sweeping in breadth, the picture Bitter Waters presents is sobering but not without hope, as it also extends to potential solutions to the Pecos River's problems and the current efforts to undo decades of damage. Combining the research skills of an accomplished historian, the investigative techniques of a veteran journalist, and the engaging style of an award-winning novelist, this powerful and accessible work of environmental history may well mark a turning point in the Pecos's fortunes.

Sharks are ruthlessly efficient predators, the apex of 450 million years of evolution. They are older than trees, have survived five extinction events and are essential to maintaining balanced ocean ecosystems, but how much do we really know about their lives? The first book to reveal the hidden world of sharks, Emperors of the Deep draws upon the latest scientific research to examine four species in detail – mako, tiger, hammerhead and great white – as never before. An eye-opening tour of shark habitats ranges from the coral reefs of the Central Pacific where great whites mysteriously congregate every autumn in what researchers call a festival for sharks, to tropical mangrove forests where baby lemon sharks play in social groups and to the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, home to 400-year-old Greenland sharks, the world’s longest-lived vertebrates. McKeever also traces the evolution of the myth of the ‘man-eater’ and exposes the devastating effects of the fishing industry on shark populations: In 2018 only four people died in shark attacks while we killed 100 million sharks. At once a journey through the misunderstood world of sharks and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep celebrates these iconic predators that continue to capture our imagination – and that desperately need our help to survive.

Stretching along 156 miles of Florida's East Coast, the Indian River Lagoon contains the St. Lucie estuary, the Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River Lagoon, and the Indian River. Nineteen canals and five man-made inlets have dramatically reshaped the region in the past two centuries, challenging the most biologically diverse estuarine system in the United States. Indian River Lagoon traces the winding story of the waterway, showing how humans have altered the area to fit their needs and also how the lagoon has influenced the cultures along its shores. Now stuck in transition between a place of labor and a place of recreation, the lagoon has become a chief focus of public concern. This book provides a much-needed bigger picture as debates continue over how best to restore this natural resource.

Addressing the numerous gaps in current information, Target Organ Toxicology in Marine and Freshwater Teleosts is an essential resource for researchers and professionals in aquatic toxicology and environmental risk assessment. All the chapters are written by researchers who are internationally recognised for their work in mechanistic aspects of aquatic toxicology. Each chapter focuses on a specific target organ or physiological system and describes how various agents disrupt the normal physiological system and processes. This volume is devoted to specific organs with coverage of the gill, kidney, skin, liver and gut. The companion volume, Systems, provides coverage of toxic effects in the central nervous, immune, neurobehavioural and reproductive systems as well as describing general mechanisms of toxicity.

Since ancient times the sea has been man's playground, and his pathway to new lands and new continents - but also his savage enemy. Linked to an ITV series of the same name, this exploration of the violence of the ocean combines science and human stories, dealing with topics which range from ice-caps to the tidal bores of China, and with man's dramatic relationship with the sea.;Waves and tides, tidal waves, freak tides, rip-tides and whirlpools - what are they and why do they occur? How do humans interact with these phenomena? What is the lure of the sea? These are among the questions addressed, as well as mysteries of the deep: submarines, deep-sea exploration, ocean resources, deep-water life, diving, volcanic hazards, the Bermuda triangle, cyclones and hurricanes, icebergs and ice-breakers.

This book provides a concise synthesis of how toxic chemical pollutants affect physiological processes in teleost fish. This Second Edition of the well-received Water Pollution and Fish Physiology has been completely updated, and chapters have been added on immunology and acid toxicity. The emphasis, as in the first edition, is on understanding mechanisms of sublethal effects on fish and their responses to these environmental stressors. The first chapter covers the basic principles involved in understanding how fish respond, in general, to environmental alterations. Each subsequent chapter is devoted to a particular organ system or physiological function and begins with a short overview of normal physiology of that system/function. This is followed by a review of how various toxic chemicals may alter normal conditions in fish. Chapters covering environmental hypoxia, behavior, cellular enzymes, and acid toxicity are also included. The book closes with a discussion on the practical application of physiological and biochemical measurements of fish in water pollution control in research and regulatory settings.

A new addition to this successful series and a companion volume to My First Book of Southern African Seashore Life, this book focuses on creatures that are found within the sea environment, away from the shore: fi shes; squid; sharks; rays; whales and dolphins; turtles; seabirds, and other creatures found off-shore. It follows the series model, with an illustrated introduction giving context to the subject, and then each page featuring:

•  a vivid, full-colour illustration
•  simple, informative text in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and Zulu
•  visual clues about the creatures’ diet, size, habits and distribution round our coast

Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature's creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewellry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiralling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable account of the world's most iconic seashells. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature's wisdom-and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

This handy pocket guide enables divers and snorkelers to identify more than 270 of the most common species of marine life likely to be encountered in and around the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific region, including fish, reptiles and amphibians, and invertebrates. Each species featured is illustrated with an outstanding colour photograph, accompanied by a species description covering nomenclature, size, habits and distribution. The Indo-Pacific region, encompassing the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, includes the major diving destinations of the Red Sea, the Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Great Barrier Reef, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, and accounts for 92% of the world's coral reefs. This guidebook shows the species that divers and snorkelers are really likely to encounter - it's the essential companion for every diving expedition.

Many thousands of Americans in such cities as Miami, New Orleans, Galveston, and Corpus Christi live near an estuary, one of nature's most intriguing ecosystems. But the same citizens who depend on a neighboring estuary for fresh shrimp or who visit it on a Sunday outing often know little about the physical makeup of estuaries and their contributions to the quality of human life. In this comprehensive study, Robert Stickney examines the physical, chemical, geological, and biological characteristics of estuaries, coastal regions where fresh water and seawater intermingle. This book, the first to bring together data on estuarine ecology in the region of interest, will provide a benchmark for future studies of estuaries and their mysteries and will be invaluable to aquatic ecologists, nonbiological oceanographers and limnologists, and interested laymen. Its storehouse of technical information will assure it a continuing place in the literature of estuarine ecology.

This practical pocket field guide, published in association with the Wildlife Trusts, includes 170 species of coastal birds from Britain and the near Continent. Each species account contains accurate artworks that show details of variations in plumage for male, female and juvenile birds, as well as breeding and non-breeding birds. A concise written account outlines further essential information, such as size, description, voice, habitat, distribution and habits. The easy-to-follow layouts and illustrations aid quick and precise identification, and make this book an indispensable reference in the field as well as at home. It is compact enough to fit in the pocket yet packed with essential information for nature enthusiasts.

First Published in 1968. This works seeks to be neither controversial nor polemical, the author intends to present an entirely objective account of the beliefs and institutions of Islam. Lammens describes Hejaz as the cradle of Islam, where Western Arabia in its mountainous complexity holds as the primary focus in this title. Discussing Islam as having been formed by the evolution of thirteen centuries, the details supplied within enable the reader to extensively follow its historical development.

Practical and portable, this is the ultimate field guide to the world's cetaceans. This outstanding new field guide to whales, dolphins and porpoises is the most comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date guide to these popular mammals. With more than 500 accurate illustrations - complete with detailed annotations pointing out the most significant field marks - Field Guide to Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises covers all 93 species and every subspecies in the world. Many of the world's most respected whale biologists have collaborated on the concise text, which is packed with helpful identification tips from cetacean expert, Mark Carwardine. Mark's informative text is accompanied by up-to-date distribution maps for each species. Beautifully designed, to ensure critical information is quickly accessible, this is an indispensable resource that every whale-watcher will want to carry out to sea.

Georges Bank, off the coast of New England, has for years been known as one of the most productive of the world's fisheries. Now, recent exploratory surveys indicate it may hold still other resources–oil and natural gas–in sufficient abundance to justify their development. Suddenly, decisions must be made about whether it is possible to manage two

Covering 71 percent of the planet, these saline bodies of water provided the unique conditions necessary for the building blocks of life to form billions of years ago. This book explains how our oceans continue to support and influence life in important ways: by providing the largest global source of protein in the form of fish populations, by creating and influencing weather systems, and by absorbing waste streams such as airborne carbon. It is shown how oceans have an almost magnetic draw-almost half of the world's population lives within a few hours of an ocean. Although oceans are vast in size, exceeding 328 million cubic miles (1.37 billion cubic kilometers), they have been influenced by and have influenced humans in numerous ways. The book includes three detailed case studies. The first focuses on the most remote locations along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where new ocean floor is being formed twenty-thousand feet underwater. The second considers the Maldives, a string of islands in the Indian Ocean, where increasing sea levels may force residents to abandon some communities by 2020. The third describes the North Sea at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, where fishing stocks have been dangerously depleted as a result of multiple nations' unrelenting removal of the smallest and largest species.

Julia Rothman's best-selling illustrated Anatomy series takes a deep dive into the wonders of the sea with Ocean Anatomy. Follow Rothman's inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world's oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages. Also available in this series: Nature Anatomy, Farm Anatomy, Food Anatomy, and Nature Anatomy Notebook

Provides historical context for the many contributions made by using the Xenopus model System. Chapters written by an international team of leading researchers using Xenopus as a model organism. Chapters deal with cell biology, developmental biology, genomics, and evolutionary biology and include the results of the research. Well illustrated with color diagrams and photos.