Reef Life

February 3, 2020
Marine scientist Roberts (The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea) offers a vital account of his dives through the world’s coral reefs. Roberts takes readers through almost four decades of his undersea explorations, beginning in 1982, when, as an undergraduate, he first dove amid reefs in the Red Sea. Throughout, Roberts shows a gift for vivid descriptions of the creatures he encounters (“the surgeonfish were pastel blue ovals with two dusky facial bars and puckered lips with which they kissed weed from the rocks”). In addition to showcasing memorable specimens of marine life, Roberts enables his audience to marvel at the miracle of natural engineering which coral reefs represent, as “they are visible from space, but to see clearly the animals that build them you need a magnifying glass.” He ends in 2019, covering the devastation to major formations such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and hopefully raising the possibility that some reefs can adapt to global warming. Natural history buffs and conservationists will cherish this vivid aquatic odyssey.

March 1, 2020

Roberts (marine conservation, York Univ.; The Ocean of Life) shares stories from his 35-year career as an ocean scientist in this vibrant memoir and love letter to coral reefs. Roberts highlights the ecology, adventure, and politics of coral reefs while taking readers across the globe as a student in Saudi Arabia, to dives in the Caribbean, and speaking at the UN in New York. The book succeeds as both a memoir of a scientist's research career and passions and an accessible narrative of the science of coral reefs, making its appeal for a broad audience. Roberts also deftly addresses the decline of coral reefs, persisting threats, and complexities of conservation. Readers follow conservation efforts and bureaucratic challenges as they unfold over the author's career. Balancing a sense of urgency with hope and humor that will inspire action, the text is complemented by stunning photos from underwater photographer Mustard. Readers curious to learn about sea creatures and the coral reefs they inhabit may also enjoy Richard Smith's The World Beneath. VERDICT A vivid, lyrical science memoir for readers curious about coral reefs, and fans of environmental nonfiction.--Kate Bellody, State Univ. of New York, New Paltz

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2020
A leading ocean scientist examines the mostly bad news concerning the health of the world's coral reefs in a blend of polemic and memoir. Roberts, a winner of the Rachel Carson Award and the Mountbatten Award, has been a student of marine biology for more than four decades. "When I began my career as a marine biologist," he writes, "we knew little about this hidden world." About the object of his specialized study, he adds, "but as we have come to know coral reefs with ever greater intimacy, we have learned that this world is fragile and increasingly endangered, by us." The author begins in 1982 with his explorations of the reefs of the Red Sea as a student surrounded by a motley collection of scientists, including a field manager Roberts describes as "a whip-thin bundle of nervous energy." The oddball types are constants of the field, but knowledge of the oceans has increased considerably during the author's career. As for the fish--well, he reveals that "an old ichthyological adage says that the average fish lives ten minutes, given the billions of eggs spawned and the miniscule number that make it to adulthood." A healthy population of seaweed-munching fish is critically important to the health of a reef, and, all things being connected to all other things, the overfishing of reef dwellers means a decline in reefs. In the author's words, "it is the high intensity of reef herbivory that keeps reefs coral-dominated." Roberts examines failing reef systems such as those in the Caribbean and particularly the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. Can they be saved? Yes, answers the author, but only if we give up fossil fuels and "embrace renewables with great urgency," which means that the answer is likely really no. A charming, well-written introduction to coral-reef ecology and the scientists who uncover its mysteries.

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March 1, 2020
Ocean scientist and author (The Ocean of Life, 2012) Roberts loves the reefs created by corals, remarkable marine invertebrates that conjure rock from water and create teeming oases, the richest of all marine ecosystems. Excited by reading Jacques Cousteau in his youth, the author learned to scuba dive and then, as an undergraduate, was invited to join a team mapping marine habitats along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. His first sight of a reef's colors and patterns felt like falling headlong in love. As he chronicles his diving and studying reefs all over the world, from Egypt to the Caribbean to the Great Barrier Reef, Roberts conveys the majesty of the underwater world, and the often rough conditions for setting up research stations on inhospitable shores. In enthusiastic prose he describes corals, the fish, and other animals that live amongst the coral colonies, and the dangers these fragile worlds face in an age of global climate change. Spectacular color and black-and-white photographs entice us into a world most of us will never see but will grow to care about.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)