March 2009

Sea Sick

By Alanna Mitchell

Alanna Mitchell's new book Sea Sick is aptly named. It leaves you a little sick in the heart for the state of the world's oceans. As a former Globe and Mail science reporter, Ms. Mitchell casts a Canadian perspective on a growing global crisis.

The seas are sick. Ms. Mitchell travels the world to draw readers firsthand into the heart of the troubles. Readers ride with Ms. Mitchell over the surface dead zones, through the disappearing Great Barrier Reef and down to the pitch-black bottom of a chemically-imbalanced ocean. It's an important ride that highlights the dependent nature of the planet on its oceans.

In her journeys, Ms. Mitchell has a chance encounter with Tim Flannery, the famed climate change scientist and author of The Weather Makers. This is what he tells her: "The ocean contains the switch of life. Not land, nor the atmosphere. The ocean. And that switch can be flipped off."

At CPAWS and WWF-Canada, we're very concerned about this "switch of life" in the oceans. Conservation is a top priority. Please read Sea Sick and other books about marine environments. Contact Canadian politicians and urge them to make marine conservation a priority. Thank you for your help.

Michele Patterson (left, WWF) and Sabine Jessen (CPAWS) present Barry Penner, B.C.’s environment minister, with Sea Sick.

Help us make waves!

If enough people care about the oceans, we can save them. Please read these wonderful books. Help educate the masses. You can make a difference! Find out how.
– CPAWS and WWF