Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World's Coasts and Beneath the Seas
Carl Safina. Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1997. 458 pp., illus. (ISBN 0-8050-4671-2 hdcv.)
Carl Safina. Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1997. 458 pp., illus. (ISBN 0-8050-4671-2 hdcv.)
Carl Safina's Song for the Blue Ocean sounds a clear and unmistakable alarm for a legacy of ecosystems and species that are invisible to most of us, but should concern all of us. His graceful lyrics compel us to appreciate the beauty of landscapes hidden by the opaque surface of the sea, and to recognize the sublime splendor of their inhabitant animals. He constantly reminds us that it is not just "resources" or "stocks" that are threatened -- but a living heritage, accumulated over evolutionary millenia. His powerful words then force us to confront the perils that threaten them.
This is a story of loss. Safina provides formal numerical evidence along with personal anecdotal wisdom from around the world to build an unimpeachable case: marine life is not just in trouble -- in many cases it is on the brink of catastrophe.
The book is divided into three sections, each dealing with a particular fishery: bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic, salmon of the eastern Pacific, and mixed-species fisheries on Pacific coral reefs. Each section presents extensive information about the natural habitats and natural histories of the organisms involved. The presentation of this scientific material is skillful, as the detail is absorbed painlessly. The reader absorbs a great respect for the engineering of morphology, physiology, and behavior produced by these organisms through their struggles to survive and reproduce, and a deep appreciation of the contribution they make to the esthetic qualities of their environments.
Safina spares us none of the complexity as to why these particular fisheries are in trouble. Many factors play a role in the destruction of specific marine life and often the very habitats that support them. These include:
Marine life is often influenced by events and processes that take place well inland. In no case does the destruction have a single cause -- no single group of people is ever solely responsible.
Despite this complexity of ecological and moral problems, Safina also finds some clear imperatives. Safina rightly sweeps away the finger-pointing that can be used to divert attention when causation is complex. These endangered animals and their environments need every possible kind of assistance; an assault on the most obvious threats is required, rather than a drawn-out search for some complete solution.
Safina's compassion for fishermen who -- perhaps unknowingly -- contribute to the destruction of their livelihoods is balanced by an informed rage for those profiteers who have successfully manipulated the public mind, and the agencies of national and international government, to further the pillage of our oceans -- often securing public funds to support the looting. Safina asks all of us to question why salmon streams should be destroyed through the clear-cutting of our publicly-owned National Forests and the building of impassable dams with public funds, why governments should allow the importation of ornamental fishes carrying the unmistakable signature of cyanide, why local fisheries councils should be dominated by exploiters with global markets and short-term interests that ensure a tragedy of the common.
Carl Safina's Song for the Blue Ocean is both a hymn and a battle anthem that we all should hear.
