scales

Around the Ocean in 80 Fish

Around the Ocean 80 Fish cover

If you’ve been reading The Well-read Naturalist for very long, you’ve likely discovered that one of my favourite authors presently writing on the subject of marine biology is the very aptly-named Dr. Helen Scales. From her “Spirals in Time” and “Poseidon’s Steed” to her “Eye of the Shoal” and “The Brilliant Abyss,” I’ve found myself repeatedly delighted by both what I’ve learned as well as how much I enjoyed learning it through her lively and superbly wrought writing. Now to these she has added a new book to share her knowledge and love of the sea and the creatures within it with her readers: “Around the Ocean in 80 Fish & Other Sea Life.”

A Gentle Challenge to Us All

Poseidons Steed cover

One of the ubiquitous sights seen by anyone walking alongside the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest town of Astoria are the many vertical wooden pilings (also sometimes called dolphins) rising from the water from a few to a few dozen meters distant from the riverbank. These are the remains of long-decayed piers that once […]

In the Sign of Water

Eye of the Shoal cover

As Glenn Shorrock both wrote and sang in Little River Band’s 1979 song Cool Change, Well I was born in the sign of water And it’s there that I feel my best The albatross and the whales they are my brothers It’s a song I’ve long felt described me remarkably well. I was born in a […]

11 Explorations into Life on Earth

Eleven Explorations cover

In drafting the recently published Newly Noted notice for Dr. Helen Scales’ “Eye of the Shoal,” I made a most delightful discovery indeed. It seems that toward the latter part of 2017, Michael O’Mara Books published the second volume in association with The Royal Institution about their world-renowned Christmas Lectures – a volume dedicated to “our own planet and the animals, plants, fish, insects and all the other living things that inhabit it – how they’ve evolved and the vital roles they play in the intricate webs of life on earth” written by none other than Dr. Scales herself.

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