Customer Reviews (1)

The Sea Otter
I am 13 and in the 8th grade.We had to read a nonfiction book for a science book report and I chose this one!It was very interesting and easy to read.It took me about an hour to read it.I found all the information very useful!SOmething I found useful was the facts about sea otters at the end.....it summarized the basic info from the book which made the report very easy to wrrite!Usually I come to amazon.com to find the book cover so I cna print it out for my posterboard, and was very disappointed that there was not one for this book....other than that i really love amazon.com.I think kids would enjoy this book becasue although it has facts it is not boring!So but the book and read it!I also thought it was very good that they had enviromental issues included in the book! ... Read more

Product Description
Describes different kinds of dolphins, including the bottlenose dolphin, Commerson's dolphin, and Chinese river dolphin, and discusses how they live and what can be done to save them from extinction. ... Read more

Product Description
Dolphins and porpoises are some of the most intelligent creatures on earth with brains only slightly smaller than humans. Unfortunately these magnificent mammals are threatened with extinction from the fishing industry, hunting, pollution, and habitatdestruction. Dolphins and Porpoises investigates the perils faced by these endangered animals, and explores what is being done to save them. ... Read more

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Discusses the three biggest species of sharks, all of which may be in danger of disappearing because people hunt them for profit and fish them for sport. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

sharks(endangered)
this book introduces readers to three threatened species of sharks.in short chapters illastrated with color photographs,accurate and fairly objective information is shared.piror to profiling the three types,the text defines how sharks differ from other ocean-dwellers.following the overview,the problems faced by great white sharks,whale sharks, and basking sharks are discussed. ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 6 to 12 years. There are only three species of manatees on Earth, and all three species are at risk. These gentle marine mammals live in warm, shallow lagoons and coastal waters where fast-moving boats, water pollution, and cold weather pose a constant threat. Beautiful images of these appealing animals help readers learn about: manatee bodies and behaviours; the habitats in which manatees live around the world; how red tides further endanger manatees; what is being done to save them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The book has a lot of info on Sea Turtles.
This book has information on how to identify a sea turtle, how they nest, where to see them nest, and how to help save the sea turtles.I learned a lot from this book, so I advise you to get it.I'm only 11, so it's hardfor me to write more complcated than this, but the book was wonderful!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 6 to 12 years. Monk seals are living fossils -- they have not changed in 15 million years -- but may not survive this century! They are critically endangered. Only two species are still alive -- the Hawaiian monk seal and the Mediterranean monk seal. Both are easily disturbed by people. In this attractive book filled with photographs and illustrations, children will discover; how monk seal bodies have adapted to ocean life: how these seals find food; the dangers they face in their ocean habitats; how people are helping them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

wonderful seals
I love the book because the photographs are great,information is correct, it is well-organized and easy to read. I would include some motivating, maybe a little bit artistic lines in it to move people into conservation efforts. One can read the book, learn it and leave it without considering one's own contribution
A Mediteranean Monk Seal Volunteer From Turkey [...]
Ilksen Bas ... Read more

Product Description
Provides descriptions of physical characteristics and habits of some of the most at-risk marine animals in the world, with explanations of why they are endangered and how they can be protected. ... Read more

Product Description
Beluga Days is a wonderful evocation of the wilderness of coastal Alaska and the Native communities that still eat whale meat and depend on local foods. It is also a foray into the fascinating labyrinth of Alaskan culture, history, and politics, as the complex relationships in this unique state coalesce in a mad theater around a crisis--the decline of the beluga whales in Cook Inlet, an isolated and genetically distinct population.

Beyond its compelling characters and particulars, Lord's story offers readers a deeper understanding of the often uncomfortable, often rewarding, juxtaposition of humans and the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A really good read!
This is a surprisingly good read! I was very impressed with Lord's ability to tell a very complex story in an interesting and engrossing way. I remained surprised that the book kept my attention and that I wanted to read on. I can highly recommend it!

More than just a whale-lover's book
As the title of this review points out, Beluga Days is a book that will appeal to a much broader readership than scientists in marine labs or whale researchers devoted to habitat conservation.I've never read a book about whales in my life, but this one gave me a chance to catch up to all those who have.I'll also say that I don't often read books that are strictly about animals, but perhaps that's why I liked this one so much.

Nancy Lord writes with the creativity and skill of a novelist or creative essayist, and Beluga Days, as a result, is no dry documentation.She manages to write both scientifically and intuitively, and brings investigative and relational research techniques with her into this multi-dimensional book.I found myself drawn into the stories of the players in this environmental drama, moved for the first time about a topic that had I had never before known about.

Lord paces the story well, answering questions I had just as I was about to ask them, and interspersing fact with feeling as often as her situations lent themselves.Throughout the book, she introduces "witnesses" for both sides of the Cook Inlet Beluga debate and gives all voices a fair chance to speak to her readers.This is probably one of the most balanced and un-biased environmental interest books I've read in a long time.

Nancy Lord has written not only a factual representation of the endangerment of the "White Whale," but a beautiful one, too.Her investment in the issue and time spent peering at all possible angles is readily apparent, and the picture she presents should be studied by any who claim similar interests.

On a smaller note, I found the hand-drawn maps at the front of the book very helpful while reading about various Alaskan locations, but would have appreciated even more visual aids like these throughout the book.Also, as another reviewer mentioned, there are several strange but obvious editing errors in the text that tended to distract me from the content of the chapters.But these complaints do little to mar the quality of the writing, or the "wholeness" of the story it presents.

Trying to Save one Minor Species
Nominally this book is about an endangered whale species. But in reality it goes much deeper than that. It is he story of trying to protect an endangered animal species. Ms. Lord goes into great detail in explaining that there are many interests involved in trying to put the Beluga whales under protection. The conflict to me is best summarized by the introduction of one character who is a spokesman for both the native hunters (who are blamed for driving the Belugas to the edge of extinction) and for a group of environmentalists who want to protect them. He can be quite honest in both camps.

That reflects the understanding that Ms. Lord brings to this book. There are two, or perhaps many sides to the story, and she brings them all out with understanding and some compassion.

Perhaps her strongest points are in dealing with the various Governmental agencies whose biggest problem seems to be not protecting the Beluga's but who is going to be in charge.

One minor complaint - I'd really like to see some pictures of these animals. The only picture in the book is the one on the front cover.

Good content; multiple production issues of concern
If you're looking for a good book to learn the science and sociology of studying belugas, monitoring subsistence hunting and more, this is a very good read. Lord doesn't automatically excoriate Alaskan oil companies, nor does she buy that every bit of Native lore, whether "Indian" or "Eskimo," about belugas is necessarily true.

Lord's connection with a variety of environmental groups, leaders of both strands of Native Americans, scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service and more, mean that she doesn't offer, nor find, "easy" answers for the subpopulation of belugas in Alaska's Cook Inlet, either.

However, the number of people she talks to for this book leads directly to two of its shortcomings.

One is that it doesn't have an index.

Two is no pictures.

Three is a mechanical/copy editing gripe. A lot of long dashes dropped out of copy, and the two words separated by the long dashes ran together. In one or two other cases, two words ran together where it doesn't appear a long dash was missing.

This book was on the 4/5 star border, probably, overall. The first two omissions definitely move it to 4-star range. The mechanical/copy error came close to moving it another notch lower, due to its frequency.

That said, the book would be more helpful with an index.

Save the Whales!
The title of this review is something of a cliche.Whales have gone from being considered a natural resource to an animal that receives very favorable treatment in the popular press.At least in the United States popular sentiment has turned against hunting of these animals.Today, commercial whaling operations employ tour guides, not harponists.Whale watching has replaced whale hunting.But understanding these creatures and the challenges they face, as well as deciding how best to help them, remain strikingly difficult issues.'Beluga Days,' by Nancy Lord, discusses many of these issues in detail as she focuses on a small genetically distinct set of Beluga Whales and the many obstacles to their survival.

Nancy Lord is a Cook Inlet salmon fisherman living near Anchorage, Alaska.Like many others, she became entranced by the small Beluga (white) Whales which shared the salmon she harvested.In the 1990s, she also began to notice a sharp decline in their numbers, observations that were borne out by scientific surveys of the population.She then threw herself into conservation efforts only to discover that the issues and motivations of various parties involved varied widely.The population decline, it seems, was due primarily to native subsistence hunting.But the native Alaskan hunters, who were themselves subdivided into those with Eskimo and non-Eskimo heritage, were understandably upset at the prospect of acknowledging their mismanagement of a communal resource.Moreover, they were unwilling to give up yet another one of their traditional rights.Other participants also had different motives.In the book we meet many of them:George Hayden, the old fisherman who fondly recalls the "Beluga Days" when the town would celebrate a largely ceremonial hunt; Kris Balliet, a leader in the movement to get the Beluga Whales classified as an endangered species, but someone who frequently made mistakes in dealing with local Alaskans; oil representative Judy Brady, passionate about the Belugas and frustrated by the blame heaped (without scientific justification in this instance) on her industry; and Joel Blatchford, the Inupiat Eskimo who was simultaneously a spokesman for the hunters and for an endangered species listing.Each of these people, and many others, receive a sympathetic portrait in Lord's book.As she writes about these people it becomes clear that the preservation of Beluga Whales, and the best means of doing so, is a multifaceted issue.

If the supporters of preservation had multiple agendas, the government to whom they were appealing had only one:proper political procedure.The book describes in agonizing detail how slowly both the state and federal government agencies moved even as the Beluga population declined towards critical numbers.Courtroom debates went on at length, various agencies fought over jurisdiction, and aside from a "depleted" listing among marine animals, little was accomplished.This was immensely frustrating for all concerned, and Lord herself highlights part of the problem in her book.Citing Garret Hardin, she notes the Beluga's had become a "tragedy" of the commons.Lacking any form of established property rights, it was easy to hunt them to extinction, but difficult to preserve them.Lord correctly notes that such property rights can be communal instead of individual, but by the 1990s, tribal communal controls had broken down at Cook's Inlet.And it turns out, government agencies were a poor alternative.If nothing else, this book points to the need for serious reform in protecting endangered species.

But at the end of the book, Lord raises a far more important issue.Should we even try to save the whales at all?What difference would it really make?These are almost heretical questions for an environmentalist, but Lord gives them a fair hearing nonetheless.After all, extinction is a natural part of evolution's paradigm.Arguing that "humans cause extinction" is simply silly, because it presupposes that humans are not a part of nature, a claim that no evolutionary biologist would make.On a more practical level, Lord askes whether Belugas will ever again be a significant part of a subsistence diet.She concludes, probably not. Native populations have grown and it is unlikely that Belugas will ever offer more than a token tie to their past even should the species survive.And what of the rest of us?Will those of us who have never watched the Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet miss them when they are gone?Lord attempts to answer these questions as best she can.Some frankly do not admit to easy answers.She wants to assert a moral basis for preservation, a claim that all Belugas, even those taken in traditional hunts, are important. But on what basis?Ultimately, the solution lies in an older, spiritual paradigm.We are the caretakers of the earth, and if we want to watch Belugas, we must find a way to do so.Is this view anthrocentric?Yes, emphatically so.Is it unscientific?Probably.But it has a hope of working.And the proof lies in the new preface to the 2007 edition of this remarkable book.There we find that in 2006, for the first time in years, families lined up on the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet to watch a large pod of Beluga Whales.We as a society are richer for it.

If you have even the slightest interest in conservation issues, by all means get this book.Lord is an excellent writer and her deeply personal journal of discovery makes for fascinating reading.This is by far one of the best nature books to appear in this decade. ... Read more

Product Description
"There's a sense of wonder in the simple words and the huge, thrilling color pictures in this photo-essay about a vanishing species."— BOOKLIST (starred review)

Limp and frozen, a Kemp's ridley turtle washes up on Cape Cod. When a boy named Max finds it, the turtle appears to be dead. But is it? Award-winning author Kathryn Lasky and photographer Christopher G. Knight take young readers on a riveting tour that begins on the icy shores of Cape Cod, where expert teams attempt to revive the Kemp's ridley, and ends on the warm beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, where turtles of this rare breed are born and may return to lay eggs of their own. All sea turtles are threatened or endangered, but the Kemp's ridley is the most endangered of all —and this awe-inspiring story makes it clear why we should want to
protect them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book for children and adults!
This is a great book that not only children will enjoy, but adults as well.It tells the story of a sea turtle's "interrupted journey" and how the animal is eventually returned to the sea.It was interesting and informative.I learned some sea turtle facts I didn't know before.I highly recommend it.It's a good book for the whole family to read together. ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 6 to 12 years. To lay eggs, a sea turtle swims thousands of miles to the beach where she was born. This long journey is fraught with danger. In many cases, the beaches are now full of hotels, people, and lights, which fool sea turtles into going the wrong way after they have laid their eggs. The journey of the hatchlings is even more harrowing, and very few make it to the ocean. In this fascinating book, children will learn about: the different species of sea turtles, their bodies, life cycles, migration, behaviour, and diets; why they are endangered; how people are helping them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must read for all ages
This is a very good non-fiction book about sea turtles and all the dangers they face, mostly because of people.
It starts with facts on sea turtles and goes on to describe the seven species of sea turtles that still exist. It continues with facts on sea turtles' habitats and their life cycles. Finally Kalman looks at the dangers these wonderful animals face.Stolen eggs, illegal hunting and the use of them in illegal products. And people distressing the egg-laying females so much that she doesn't cover the eggs in sand.
There's a picture on page 28 of tourists disturbing an egg-laying leather back. 5 kids are gathered behind the poor animal, touching her and 3 adults are watching. That photo just got my blood boiling. If I had come across these bas***ds, I would've exploded.

This is a very important book. The text is easy to read, so kids can read it without difficulty (or have it read to them), and adults too can use this book as an easy quick read to gain understanding of these reptiles. It doesn't sugar coat the reality, and it also contains a list of what people (yes, it says kids, but this should be read by adults as well; adults wish to save turtles, too) can do to help sea turtles.
Recommended!

Honus
Great book+ Well worth the price...if you are a Green Sea Turtles lover like I am.
Aloha ... Read more

Product Description
Congress answered these questions
in the preamble to the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, recognizing that
endangered and threatened species of
wildlife and plants “are of esthetic,
ecological, educational, historical,
recreational, and scientific value to
the Nation and its people.” In this
statement, Congress summarized
convincing arguments made by
scientists, conservationists, and
others who are concerned by the
disappearance of unique creatures.
Congress further stated its intent
that the Act should conserve the
ecosystems upon which endangered
and threatened species depend. ... Read more

Product Description
Explores how whales live, why they are in danger, and what is being done to stop them from disappearing from our planet forever. ... Read more