December 2009
The Sea Around Us
By Rachel Carson
Foreword by Carl Safina
(Published by Oxford University Press)
Rachel Carson is best known for her powerhouse 1962 book Silent Spring – a book that helped galvanize the modern environmental movement. But many people don’t remember that 11 years earlier, Ms. Carson also wrote the first consequential book on ocean conservation, The Sea Around Us.
This important book still resonates. The Sea Around Us speaks of the genesis and poetry of ocean life. It highlights the sheer power of the world’s oceans and their importance in the evolution of the planet. Ms. Carson’s book is think-piece on marine environments. It is a tribute to their magnificence. And it is a love story – that from a scientist to her beloved subject.
WWF and CPAWS chose Ms. Carson’s legendary book to complete our Oceans Book Club for 2009. We hope politicians will read it carefully. Over half a century has passed and her prose still has meaning.
Today, our oceans are emptying. It is another genesis – the start of a great decline in ocean species. We need government policies that nurture marine environments. In Canada, that means more Marine Protected Areas and a more rational and thoughtful approach to the management of ocean uses through marine planning.
Please help save Canada’s seas. Contact a Canadian politician. Tell them you’ve read Rachel Carson book and that want more government emphasis placed on ocean conservation. Thank you for your help. Your voice makes a big difference.
