Prowling the Seas: Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators

Turner, Pamela S.

ISBN 10: 0802797490 ISBN 13: 9780802797490

Publisher: Walker Childrens, 2009

Synopsis

From the surface of the ocean, it's hard to see any visible signs of life below. But this remarkable ecosystem is teeming with life―life that is increasingly under environmental stress. And it is often the predators that sound the earliest warning signs. By tracking a wide variety of ocean predators, the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) project provides essential cutting-edge information about the state of the ocean's health and the challenges facing all its inhabitants. Acclaimed science writer Pamela S. Turner takes readers along with four predators―a leatherback sea turtle, a bluefin tuna, a great white shark, and a Sooty Shearwater―on their remarkable journeys. This full-access look will change the way readers view our blue planet.

About this title

About the Author

PAMELA S. TURNER has written many science and nature articles for adults and books for children, including Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog and Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes, an American Library Association Notable Book and winner of the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award. She lives in Oakland, California, with her family.

www.pamelasturner.com

From Booklist

Turner, whose books include Gorilla Doctors (2005) and The Frog Scientist (2009), introduces the work of the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, in which scientists use electronic tags to trace the routes of hard-to-observe ocean animals. The first chapter shows the scientists tagging a leatherback turtle and tracking her course. The next chapter involves monitoring a bluefin tuna, which crisscrosses the Pacific for two years. In the next, a child finds a great white shark’s tag in a tide pool and returns it to the project. The last follows two mated shearwaters, seabirds that raise their young and then fly separately for thousands of miles before reuniting the following fall. In each chapter, a clearly delineated map makes it easy to follow the animals’ routes, and many clear color photos show the animals and the scientists who study them. Additional information on the four species is appended, along with lists of recommended reading, films, and Web sites. A clearly written presentation of an unusual topic. Grades 3-6. --Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker Childrens
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0802797490
• ISBN 13: 9780802797490
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 40