The (mis)Adventures of a Sea Lion Biologist in Alaska and Elsewhere

When everything goes wrong, the best stories are just getting started.

You have dreamed of a life spent in wild places, watching animals no one else gets to see. You have imagined clinging to cliff faces in the Aleutian Islands, riding out storms on research vessels in the Bering Sea, and standing among thousands of roaring sea lions on some of the most remote shores on Earth. But you have also wondered what it actually takes to live that life, and whether the reality is as glorious as the dream.

In The (mis)Adventures of a Sea Lion Biologist in Alaska and Elsewhere, Thomas R. Loughlin, Ph.D., delivers the answer with self-deprecating wit and hard-earned wisdom. From his early days as a California surfer drafted into the Vietnam War, where he flew combat missions as a Huey crew chief and earned a Purple Heart, to a 40-year career studying marine mammals across Alaska, Russia, South Africa, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, and beyond, Loughlin chronicles what the textbooks leave out: the mishaps, the near misses, the ships run aground, the falls off cliffs, and the moments of pure wonder that made every disaster worth it. This is not a dry scientific report. It is a story about what happens when careful plans collide with nature, bad luck, and human stubbornness.

Inside you will discover:

• Hair-raising fieldwork on some of the most remote and dangerous coastlines on the planet

• Unforgettable encounters with Steller sea lions, fur seals, sea otters, and the remarkable people who study them

• A deeply personal journey from combat veteran and struggling student to one of America's leading marine mammal biologists

Thomas R. Loughlin, Ph.D., is a retired marine mammal biologist with over 125 peer-reviewed scientific publications and four decades of fieldwork across 14 countries. A combat-wounded Vietnam veteran who earned his doctorate at UCLA, he spent 30 years at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle. A subspecies of the Steller sea lion was named in his honor. His memoir, The (mis)Adventures of a Sea Lion Biologist in Alaska and Elsewhere, recounts the wild, humorous, and awe-inspiring moments behind the science.