fire in the turtle house; the green sea turtle and the fate of the ocean
TRANSCRIPT
376 Book reviews / Biological Conservation 108 (2002) 375–376
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Fire in the Turtle House; The Green Sea Turtle and the
Fate of the Ocean
By Osha Gray Davidson. Public Affairs. 2001. ISBN 1–58648–000–6. 258 pages.
Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) arose in the oceanssome 65 million years ago, but unlike the Icthyosaursand Plesiosaurs that shared its environment, the greensea turtle survived the last great extinction event. OshaGray Davidson’s book tells in narrative format how thisspecies was nearly lost during the late 1970s and how anew menace is threatening its survival.Davidson’s tale begins in 1935 at the New York
Aquarium or, to be precise, in the turtle tank. Fivegreen sea turtles in the tank provided a major attractionfor the visitors. However, in 1936 it was noticed thatone of the turtles had developed several warty out-growths. Later, three from 200 wild turtles were foundwith similar growths. The chapter concludes with thenotion that the growths were isolated cases of benignpapillomas, the cause of which was totally unknown.The next two chapters explain how the turtle meat
canning industry, which grew up around Monterey Bay,USA, and some very ‘sloppy’ green turtle populationsurveys carried out to determine the levels at which thespecies could be taken for food production, almostcaused the complete extinction of the species.The remainder of the book brings the story forward
into the mid 1970s to the 1990s and re-introduces us to
the green turtle papilloma phenomenon. However, thistime the growths found on the turtles are larger, moreextensive and affect a far greater percentage of the wildpopulation. We learn that the cause is a viral disease,fibro-papillomatosis or F.P. Along the way we areintroduced to a discussion of the many factors thatmight influence the virulence of the disease, which isdescribed as a ‘marine metademic’ by the author. Theseinclude toxic dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria, alongwith anthropogenic factors such as pesticides, herbicidesand sewage pollution.The overwhelming message from the book is that we
can no longer regard the oceans as infinite in either theircapacity to continuously produce food or as a reposi-tory for our waste products. To ignore this message willnot only pose a threat to the health of the oceans, but tohumanity itself.The book is very well written as a journalistic narra-
tive. This format makes the book easily readable to theinterested layperson, but equally, it has academic valuefor the scientific community interested in the welfare ofmarine ecosystems and their communities.
John PatchettSchool of Biological Sciences
University of WarwickCoventry CV4 7AL
UKE-mail address: [email protected]
Scientific Information). The bulk of its contents fall intotwo parts. There are five chapters on comparative biol-ogy followed by a large section for the detailed speciesaccounts. The comparative biology section includeschapters on evolution, classification, foraging andreproductive behaviours, and population dynamics.While these chapters make interesting reading, the sec-tions on conservation and population trends are startingto look rather dated, for example the Bald Eagle popu-lation data are based on estimates from 1980, and a lotcan change in 20 years. Despite that, there is still muchto be gained from reading the other chapters. The spe-cies accounts cover the 31 species which breed in NorthAmerica and give details of the distribution within thearea, known subspecies, biometrics, identification fea-tures, habitats, and feeding, social and breeding beha-viours. Much of this information is very well
summarised and accessible. Perhaps surprisinglythough, this reprint shows its age most when it comes toits role as an identification guide. Current field guideshave evolved a great deal over the last decade and thequality of information and illustrations is now at a veryhigh level. This book has been far surpassed by currentfield guides, both general ones and several that dealexclusively with birds of prey. Despite that, the infor-mation on other aspects of North American raptors isvaluable and now comes at a relatively cheap price.
Ian R. HartleyDepartment of Biological Sciences
Lancaster UniversityLancaster, LA1 4YQ
UKE-mail address: [email protected]
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