Review\n“I need to now jump up and down myself to say that Ocean of Life is an excellent and engrossing work. Mr. Roberts has corralled an astonishing collection of scientific discovery, and he conveys it with non-textbook readability. . . . He didn’t set out just to explain what is going on in the oceans. His even more important goal is to consider what the decline in marine life tells us about the future of humankind. . . . I hope a great many people—particularly those in that undecided middle—read this book. There can, after all, be no hope of change without an enhanced appreciation for the potential consequences of our impact on the natural world.”—G. Bruce Knecht, Wall Street Journal\n“A story told with both scientific accuracy and narrative skill. . . . I know of no other volume that treats such divergent ocean issues as overfishing, decreasing pH, plastic pollution and biogeographic shifts with this much accuracy and acumen. As a balance to the bad news, each chapter is edged with fascinating details about the life of the sea. . . . Ocean of Life, in detailing sobering facts about the ills that afflict the largest biosphere on earth, is a call to action. At the heart of this book is a deep love of the ocean and a profound concern for its viability as a resource for us all.”—Stephen Palumbi, Nature\n“Passionate marine conservationist Roberts documents the disturbing changes that threaten the future of marine life and proposes a natural course of conservation that may yet save us from economic crash, environmental ruin, and human suffering.”—Rick Roche, Booklist\n“An engrossing survey of the relationship between man and the sea for readers living through the greatest environmental changes in 65 million years. . . . Roberts’s meditation will have readers gasping aloud with wonder, even as the sobering truth of humans’ profound interdependence with the sea provokes concern.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)\n“A timely wake-up call . . . Roberts maintains his optimism while looking at the problems that have been compounded by global warming, pollution, the destruction of marshlands, etc., and he notes that remedial action is still possible.”—Kirkus Reviews\n“Biologist and conservation activist Roberts examines with clarity the relationships among fossil-fuel use, climate change, rising sea levels and ocean acidity, overfishing, and pollution from toxic chemicals, sewage, and fertilizers. . . . Although he paints a bleak picture of the oceans’ health, Roberts offers solutions for preventing further degradation of our oceans. . . . This is essential reading for anyone concerned about the future of the planet.”—Library Journal\n“Callum Roberts has done it again. From showing us the past with the wisdom of a Dickens character in his earlier book, he now leads us toward the future in The Ocean of Life. It’s a book so fine, I wish I’d written it! 
—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and The View From Lazy Point\n“Roberts imparts his vast knowledge with a consummate talent for colorful narrative and devastating facts. His book will be required reading for anyone who cares about the oceans—not least because, as well as underlining the scale of the problems, he offers us the hope of real solutions.”—Philip Hoare, author of The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea\n“Those of us who worry about the future of our oceans could do a lot worse than take up this single refrain, ‘Listen to Callum Roberts!’ Shouted in the ears of the world’s leaders, it might just make a difference. Meanwhile we should all read The Ocean of Life, a thrilling narrative of oceanic natural history and a vital call to action.”—Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and author of The River Cottage Cookbook\nA Silent Spring for oceans, written by "the Rachel Carson of the fish world" (The New York Times) 
Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum

Ocean of Life

Science & Math

CALLUM ROBERTS

Nature & Ecology

Penguin

The Unnatural History of the Sea

Humanity can make short work of the oceans’ creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller’s sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It’s a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail. As Callum M. Roberts reveals in The Unnatural History of the Sea, the oceans’ bounty didn’t disappear overnight. While today’s fishing industry is ruthlessly efficient, intense exploitation began not in the modern era, or even with the dawn of industrialization, but in the eleventh century in medieval Europe. Roberts explores this long and colorful history of commercial fishing, taking readers around the world and through the centuries to witness the transformation of the seas. Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travelers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish. The abundance of marine life described by fifteenth century seafarers is almost unimaginable today, but Roberts both brings it alive and artfully traces its depletion. Collapsing fisheries, he shows, are simply the latest chapter in a long history of unfettered commercialization of the seas. The story does not end with an empty ocean. Instead, Roberts describes how we might restore the splendor and prosperity of the seas through smarter management of our resources and some simple restraint. From the coasts of Florida to New Zealand, marine reserves have fostered spectacular recovery of plants and animals to levels not seen in a century. They prove that history need not repeat itself: we can leave the oceans richer than we found them.

History

Island Press

Reef Life is a marine science memoir - the story of how Britain's pre-eminent marine conservation scientist, fell in love with coral reefs. Callum Roberts begins as a young university student who had never been abroad, spending a summer helping to map the unknown reefs of Saudi Arabia. From the moment he first cleared his goggles, he's never looked back, moving on to survey Sharm al-Sheikh, and from there diving and researching all over the world, including the Australia's imperilled Great Barrier Reef and the more resilient reefs of the Caribbean, in a thirty-year career. His stories are astonishing, lyrical and laced with a wonderful wry humour - and they allow us privileged access to, and understanding of, the science of our oceans and reefs. Reading this book will also commit readers to support of Callum's goal to get marine reserve status for ten percent of the world's ocean.

Reef Life: An underwater memoir

Earth Sciences

Profile Books

Reef Life

Profile Books, Ltd.

In this revelatory book, Callum Roberts uses his lifetime's experience working with the oceans to show why they are the most mysterious places on earth, their depths still largely unexplored. In "The Ocean of Life" we get a panoramic tour beneath the seas: Why do currents circulate the way do? Where exactly do they go? How has the chemistry of the oceans changed? And, how polluted are we making them? Above all, Roberts reveals the richness of their life, and how it has altered over the centuries. The oceans are now under unprecedented threat. Not only does Roberts show how we are fishing our oceans to extinction, crucially, he explains how this directly affects our lives on land. Ninety-five percent of habitable space on earth lies in the oceans, and marine plants produce half the world's oxygen; and, the oceans themselves absorb vast quantities of carbon dioxide. The life they support is now in the balance. "The Ocean of Life" should galvanise debate worldwide. Roberts shows how we can arrest and reverse the damage we are doing. Tantalisingly, it is within our grasp to restore the life of the oceans. There is still time.

The Ocean of Life. by Callum Roberts

Allen Lane.

Professor Callum Roberts Unnatural History of the Sea (Paperback 2007) There is a crisis evolving because of over-fishing. Some predict that at current levels, all major fish stocks will have collapsed by 2050.

The Unnatural History of the Sea: The Past and Future of Humanity and Fishing (Gaia Thinking)

Business & Money

Economics

Gaia Books Ltd

Fully-protected marine reserves: A guide

Julie Hawkins

WWF Endangered Seas Campaign

Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travelers, this book recreates the historical scar that marine creatures are harpooned into extinction, which is a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. It explores the long and colorful history of commercial fishing, taking readers around the world and through five centuries to witness the transformation of the seas  from a bounteous ocean in the past to an empty ocean today.

The Unnatural History of the Sea (Chinese Edition)

Children's Books

Literature & Fiction

Peking University Press

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Books by CALLUM ROBERTS