Synopses & Reviews
Playful and inquisitive, seals have long been interested in humansandmdash;and humans have reciprocated that interest, falling for their beauty, grace, and charm as they frolic alongside our boats or loll on sandy shores. In this newest entry in the Animal series, Victoria Dickenson traces the history of our interaction with these beautiful, fascinating swimmers, from the centuries of huntingandmdash;in which people killed countless seals for their skin, oil, and meatandmdash;to the present, when the white-furred baby seal has become one of the most potent symbols of the need for ecological conservation. Along the way, she offers an approachable account of seal biology and behavior, and she delineates the threats they face from habitat destruction and climate change. Beautifully illustrated and packed with stories from folklore, myth, and history,
Seal offers a richly immersive view of a much-loved, storied creature.
Synopsis
An inside look at a renowned marine biologist’s quest to save an abandoned, endangered seal pup Only eleven hundred Hawaiian monk seals survive in the wild. Without intervention, they face certain extinction within fifty years. When a two-day-old Hawaiian monk seal pup, later named Kauai Pup 2, or KP2, is attacked and abandoned by his mother on a beach, he is rushed off on a journey that will take him across the ocean to the California marine lab of eminent wildlife biologist Dr. Terrie M. Williams. As Williams works with the boisterous KP2 to save his species, she forms a lasting bond with him that illustrates the importance of the survival of all earth’s creatures and the health of the world’s oceans.
About the Author
Terrie M. Williams is the director of the Marine Mammal Physiology Project at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a cocreator of the Center for Ocean Health. She was named one of the Fifty Most Important Women in Science by
Discover magazine. She lives in Soquel, California.