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What the Wild Sea Can Be

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction
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Brief Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025 No matter where we live, What the Wild Sea Can Be, Helen Scales observes in her bracing yet hopeful exploration of the future of the ocean. Beginning with its fascinating deep history, Scales links past to present to... Read More
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An impassioned examination of the existential threats to the world's ocean and cautious optimism for the abundant life within it.

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LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025

No matter where we live, What the Wild Sea Can Be, Helen Scales observes in her bracing yet hopeful exploration of the future of the ocean.

Beginning with its fascinating deep history, Scales links past to present to show how prehistoric ocean ecology holds lessons for the ocean of today. In elegant, evocative prose, she takes us into the realms of animals that epitomise current increasingly challenging conditions, from emperor penguins to sharks and orcas.

Yet despite these threats, many hopeful signs remain, in the form of highly protected reserves, the regeneration of seagrass meadows and giant kelp forests, and efforts to protect coral reefs.

Offering innovative ideas for protecting coastlines and cleaning the toxic seas, Scales insists we need more ethical and sustainable fisheries and must prevent the other existential threat of deep-sea mining. Inspiring us all to maintain a sense of awe and wonder at the majesty beneath the waves, she urges us to fight for the better future that still exists for the ocean.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781804710517

Publisher: Atlantic Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 June 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Grove Press

Edition: Export/Airside

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 232.0mm

Weight: 440g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Dr Helen Scales is a marine biologist, acclaimed author and broadcaster who explores the wonders and plight of the oceans and the living planet. Her books, including The Brilliant Abyss and Spirals in Time, have been adapted for stage and screen, and translated into 15 languages. She writes for National Geographic Magazine and the Guardian, teaches at Cambridge University and is a storytelling ambassador for the Save Our Seas Foundation. Helen divides her time between Cambridge, England, and the wild Atlantic coast of France.

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