Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World (Princeton Field Guides)

Book Description

This is the first comprehensive field guide to the world's 136 species of albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, storm petrels, and diving petrels. Because many of these birds spend most of their lives far from the coast, traveling from ocean to ocean in a constant search for food, they are poorly known, enigmatic, and often hard to identify in the field. This guide will make field identification much easier. It illustrates every species and shows the distinct plumages of each. It contains 46 high-quality color plates opposite concise descriptions and a color distribution map, with more complete species descriptions following. Species are illustrated on the same page as their confusion species, allowing direct comparisons for more accurate identifications.

This field guide includes information on breeding, feeding, distribution, migration, and conservation. And it illustrates for the first time several extremely rare species, such as Beck's and MacGillivray's Petrels, and the New Zealand Storm-Petrel, which was rediscovered only in 2004.

Seabird watchers will find this an indispensable field guide for use around the world.

A comprehensive guide to all 136 species of open-ocean seabirds, with subspecies and morphs fully illustrated
Designed for field use, with concise information opposite plates, and close- and long-range identification tips
Confusion species included on plates to aid accurate identification
Detailed species accounts, including a color distribution map for each species
Full treatment of recently rediscovered and rarely seen species

Customer Reviews:

A significant contribution.......2007-09-27

A very useful and well illustrated book. A must for the expert and amateur alike. Easy to use and well laid out, it is essential reading for those of us who go to sea with our eyes open to the nature around us

Good book, but you may or may not need it.......2007-06-08

The illustrations are very nice, but with one drawback. All species are shown in-flight, but only one or two are shown on the water. Granted, the majority of sightings of these birds will be on the wing, but it still seems like an oversight and missed opportunity.
If you go on many pelagic trips and are constantly looking for new species, then this book is definitely for you.
But for those who only occasionally go out to sea and also have a good general field guide, you can skip this one. For instance, the Sibley Guide should be sufficient for most North American birders, on most trips. But if the region's general field guide does not adequately cover this group of birds, then this one would be a great aide on any boat trip.

Grumman Albatross: A History of the Legendary Seaplane (Schiffer Military History Book)

Average customer rating:

Grumman Albatross: A History of the Legendary Seaplane (Schiffer Military History Book)
Wayne Mutza
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

The Fighting Flying Boat: A History of the Martin PBM Mariner

ASIN: 088740913X

Book Description

The Albatross was the premier fixed-wing rescue aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard. Its very colorful history begins in 1946 and spans nearly a quarter of a century, including service with twenty-two foreign nations. With a total of 466 built by Grumman, more than eighty examples still thrive on the civil register. The Albatross also saw extensive service in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The fascinating history of this unique aircraft is complemented by over 200 photographs including many in color showing the great variations in color schemes and markings.

Book Description

Eye of the Albatross takes us soaring to locales where whales, sea turtles, penguins, and shearwaters flourish in their own quotidian rhythms. Carl Safina's guide and inspiration is an albatross he calls Amelia, whose life and far-flung flights he describes in fascinating detail. Interwoven with recollections of whalers and famous explorers, Eye of the Albatross probes the unmistakable environmental impact of the encounters between man and marine life. Safina's perceptive and authoritative portrait results in a transforming ride to the ends of the Earth for the reader, as well as an eye-opening look at the health of our oceans.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous soarings, fishing sensibly and . . . frozen skivvies??.......2007-07-26

How would you feel at the sight of a weary seabird coughing up a plastic toothbrush while trying to feed its chick? Carl Safina observed this while studying the Laysan Albatross. After cruising the North Pacific for days, soaring over thousands of kilometres seeking forage for that hatchling, one of bathroom utensils was the proferred dessert. To Safina, it means "No place, no creature remains apart from you or me."

In this exquisitely written account of how the mysterious albatross lives, we learn of those fabulous flights, how the bird manages its energy budget, and of the many perils it endures throughout a life nearly as long as that of humans. Centred on Tern Island, a tiny atoll halfway along the Hawaiian chain, research teams are studying the Laysan Albatross, turtles and sharks. Safina recounts the work and the conditions. Among other tasks, ten Laysans are tagged at nesting time, allowing satellites to track their wanderings. Safina dubs one female "Amelia", describing her flights into the North Pacific. Nesting birds must accumulate resources because offspring are demanding. The parents will lose up to 20% of their body weight in supplying the chicks. Once hers has hatched, she and her mate, who have shared incubation duties, now take turns fetching breakfast for the little squawker. Safina, who has watched these birds, remains in awe of Amelia's abilities to navigate. The maps he provides display ever greater distances travelled and Amelia's obvious skills in locating fodder. He notes than in a lifetime of half a century, a Laysan may cover nearly six million kilometres of oversea flight.

Within his sojourn on Tern Island, Safina makes a couple of jaunts of his own. One is much further west to Laysan Island itself. There, invasive species events have led to unusal security. The introduction of a destructive weed not long before has forced the stipulation that not only must ALL clothing be brand new, it must all be frozen to kill any organisms. Safina describes the donning of frozen underwear as an "interesting" experience. Yet, the importance of the need is revealed when the research team on Laysan describe their clean-up efforts.

The cold underwear should have helped condition him for his next trip - on a fishing boat in the Aleutian Islands. Mark Lundsten is an innovative captain of the "Masonic". His "novel" idea is how to fish in ways allowing a sustainable take. Lundsten is a campaigner among his colleagues for adopting methods to protect birds and turtles from becoming "by-catch". Safina uses the visit to discuss the perils of long-liner fishing, what safeguards are being introduced and how well they're being accepted by fishers around the world. As the episode of the toothbrush demonstrates, it's not only fishermen who threaten the wildlife around us.

The book, while seemingly targeting an audience interested in long-distance commuting seabirds, is a volume we must all take up and learn from. The real point of it is that we must spend more in time and money in developing an understanding of what goes on in the world around us. Among other issues, shark "attacks" on tourists in Hawaii bring immediate and vigorous response by Fisheries and the Coast Guard. One of the teams Safina visits demonstrate that shark movement precludes any likelihood that the slaughtered sharks are the "guilty" party. That shark has almost certainly moved on to a new location. Imparted in sterling prose, with reasoned judgements and a careful balance examining needs, wants and available resources, Safina has produced a superb account. Take up this book to see how research is done and what it can achieve. It may help you in making decisions that will affect your life and that of your children. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Eye of the Albatross.......2006-11-04

Well written and full of facts about the ocean & the life of the Albatross. Truly magnificent read.

A trip for you mind and soul.......2006-03-03

Reading Eye of the Albatross is a trip into the air --space filled with poetic descriptions of sunsets, storms, stars. The heroine is Amelia, a Laysan Albatross who has been fitted with a radio transmitter which allows scientists, Carl Safina among them, to monitor where she travels. Her base is Tern Island, part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Her flights are mapped for the reader and take her as far as the Bering Sea and the Kamchatka Penninsula. Along the way, various characters are described that make you want to know them. At the end I was pleased with new awareness and sad that this wondrous tale was over. Be prepared to laugh, cry and smile--for a long time.

A Glimpse at Nature's Wonders.......2003-02-11

From time to time, Safina does tend to anthropomorphize, but it does make the book more accessible. And at other times he steps back just a little too far from the role he has written for himself. But there is nothing else to criticize in this excellent book.

Five hours northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands by propjet there are series of islands and atolls that are the breeding grounds of tens of thousands of sea birds. Of the many species of birds that breed there, the largest, the one that must be wrapped in the most superlatives, is the Laysan Albatross. And one Laysan Albatross, that Safina names Amelia, is the principle subject and unifying thread of this book.

From Coelridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" to the horrifying pollution of our ocean, Amelia is the eye through which we view her astonishing world. Amelia is tagged with a small satellite transmitter, and Safina includes maps showing the travels Amelia makes to feed herself and her chick. The distances beggar the imagination. Through her eyes and her journeys, Safina touches on the host of issues and breathtaking wonders of the the fauna of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.

It's a tour de force, and I recommend it to you.

it soars.......2003-01-20

from the May 16, 2002 edition - [...]

By Colin Woodard

Humans and albatrosses have a lot in common. We both live for many decades, possibly a century. Our reproductive patterns are similar. Albatrosses take as long as 13 years to mature, engage in courtships that can last two years or more, and raise a single chick every other year (or three to four years for some species.) Albatrosses, like ourselves, are found from the Antarctic to the Far North and most places in between.

Of course, we spend our time on earth very differently. Albatrosses spend 95 percent of it at sea, usually in flight. They come ashore only to breed and nest, and even then they are constantly flying off on 2,000- to 3,000-mile foraging runs to collect each feeding for their chick. They can fly for many days without stopping, sleeping on the wing, wandering from tropical to subpolar seas in the course of a single foraging run.

Carl Safina wondered what we might learn about the world if we could see it from their perspective. Now, after shadowing these great birds by foot, ship, and satellite, he has painted a beautiful, awe-inspiring tableau of our world as you've never seen it: an interconnected universe of wind and waves, sun-blasted islands, teeming polar seas, broad-winged birds, and the far-reaching effects of civilization.

"Almost everything about the albatross is superlative and extreme," Safina writes. They're huge, with an 11-foot wingspan. Masters of long-distance flight, they use less energy soaring over a stormy sea than they do while sitting quietly on their nests. They endure equatorial heat and ferocious Arctic storms, sometimes on the same feeding trip. And they travel far: By 50 years of age, a typical albatross has logged nearly 4 million miles.

Tracking them, Safina journeys to beaches covered with egg-laying sea turtles, crystalline Pacific waters filled with prowling tiger sharks, and island tern colonies so vast they're likened to "a white-noise cyclone of sound."

But today, albatrosses' lives are tangled up with those of humans. Though their world is far removed from civilization, they're inundated with pesticides, antibiotics, and hormone mimics. They swallow bottle caps and cigarette lighters, become entangled in drift nets, or drown after seizing one of the millions of baited hooks dragged behind fishing vessels every year.

"Eye of the Albatross" relates some unforgettable scenes. At one point, Safina watches an albatross chick feeding from the mouth of its mother, just back from a 2,000-mile foraging trip. The chick gulps down globs of regurgitated squid and fish eggs, but then the mother has difficulty retching up the next serving. "Slowly, the tip - just the tip - of a green plastic toothbrush emerges from the bird's throat," a sight Safina describes as "one of the most piercing things I've ever experienced." The mother, unable to pass this bit of trash, wanders away from her squawking chick.

The lesson, Safina writes, is that there are no longer any places on earth unaffected by man. "No matter what coordinates you choose, from waters polar to solar coral reefs, to the remotest turquoise atoll - no place, no creature remains apart from you and me."

Fortunately, in some places people are starting to correct the situation. Safina visits Midway Atoll, where the military accidentally introduced rats, which bred voraciously and extinguished entire nesting colonies. But since control of Midway passed to the National Wildlife Service, the rats have been eradicated, and the birds are recovering. In Alaska, Safina goes to sea with Mark Lundsten, a commercial fisherman leading the effort to save albatrosses from hooks. Lundsten has found a simple and cost-effective way to reduce albatross mortality by 90 percent with a combination of weights and streamers.

Safina, who earned a PhD studying seabirds, established himself as a leading voice in marine conservation with his first book, "Song for the Blue Ocean," which drew attention to the environmental catastrophe unfolding beneath the waves. "Eye of the Albatross" is an eloquent sequel, a moving depiction of how interconnected life on this planet truly is.

* Colin Woodard is author of 'Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas' (Basic).

Book Description

One late summer's day, the yacht Trashman set sail from Annapolis to Florida. On board were five young people: John, the captain; Meg, Mark, Brad, and Debbie Scaling. When the boat sailed into a gale, the eighty-knot winds shredded the sails. Forty-foot seas crashed through the cabin windows, and Trashman sank, leaving the crew adrift in a rubber dinghy. Albatross tells the story of how Debbie and Brad survived and how the tragedy changed Debbie Scaling's life forever.

Customer Reviews:

HARD TO PUT DOWN!.......2007-07-06

I first saw this story on the discovery channel and could not wait to read the book.
I was so glad to find a copy on Amazon.
This story is true and very sad you will feel as if you are in that raft with Debbie and Brad they were lost at sea for about 5 days and had to fight off sharks and stay alive. It started out with 5 John Mark Meg Debbie and Brad.
only Debbie and Brad made it. This book will keep you reading well into the night to finish.
It is a great read!

What an amazing story!!!.......2006-04-18

I received this book today and have read it in one sitting, just couldn't put it down. It is both a fasinating and horrific true story of this womans fight for survival in the open seas. It is written in an easy to follow style. Definately worth the read!!

A Nightmare to be Sure!.......2005-11-28

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I had seen Deborah and Brad's story on "I Shouldn't Be Alive" series, where they showed re-enactments and now and then broke away to the two actual survivors telling their story. I just knew she had written about this, so I looked it up on Amazon.

The story is told in very colorful prose. I could hear the sailboat slicing through the water, could see the pewter waves and dark sky. I could almost feel the sharks bumping the underside of the rubber raft with their rough skin.

Debbie is brutally honest, which adds to the credibility and interest of her story. She opens up and really lets us into her ordeal, and adds extra bits of information and impressions, like when she had her head under water looking for sharks and saw the beauty of the school of doradoes. So descriptive, I could see it.

This is also a story of triumph, as Debbie deals with strong emotions in the months and years after the tragedy. I'm glad she pulled through it all and wrote the book. I recommend this book for teens as well as adults.

Interesting sea survival story written by a woman.......2005-03-02

Heard ALBATROSS: THE TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN'S SURVIVAL AT SEA by Deborah Scaling Kiley and Meg Noonan . . . it is the tragic tale of what was supposed to be a simple boat trip that wound up as a nightmare . . . several of the crew members perished; what was more interesting to me was the story of how the survivors made it.

I've read other "how I survived at sea" books before . . . this was the first one, though, that I've come across written by a woman . . . what I'll remember: when your instincts tell you something, listen . . . Scaling Kiley, unfortunately, did not.

I liked her special introduction at the beginning of the cassette tapes . . . I also liked the work of Karen Allen--a talented actress that I don't see nearly enough--who did an excellent job with the narration.

Fascinating and very scary.......2002-10-21

ALBATROSS is a gripping story of survival and agonizing death at sea--the sinking with the loss of three lives of the yacht TRASHMAN off the Carolina coast. The author pulls no punches and tells a tale of human suffering, weakness, and malice that left this reader shaken by its bluntness, realism, and intensity.

The story is told in a direct and clear manner that inescapably draws one in to its nightmarish hell. Besides a sea story it is also a story of a young person's stuggle with her own demons.

Why read such a painful book? One important life lesson that we must learn from this account is not to leave port unprepared. In some ways, I would urge all boaters to read this book just to have that lesson hammered in. As a boater I came away with the deep conviction that I don't ever want to come anywhere near going through anything like what the crew of TRASHMAN went through.

As presented by the author, the tragedy was entirely the result of the incompetence, alcoholism, and carelessness of the captain and other crew members. I must confess, however, that when I reflected on the author's tale I could not help wondering how objective it was. She is so unremittingly critical--bitterly critical--of John and Mark that I began to doubt the clarity of her vision. I would love to get the account of the other survivor. There are several mysteries about the tragic sinking of TRASHMAN that remain troubling and unresolved.

Book Description

Five stories of loss at sea

For all its soul-stirring romance, the tall-ship renaissance has a tragic side, and professional mariner and maritime scholar Dan Parrott explores it in this groundbreaking reconstruction of five controversial sea disasters of the past half century. Working from official documents, survivor and expert interviews, and his own considerable tall-ship experience, Parrott re-creates the losses of five sail-training vessels: the 316-foot Pamir (1957), 117-foot Albatross (1961), 117-foot Marques (1984), 137-foot Pride of Baltimore (1986), and 125-foot Maria Asumpta (1995), which together claimed 112 lives. In Tall Ships Down, he reveals that, contrary to official findings, ignorance of and disregard for age-old practices of seamanship were at least as responsible for the tragedies as "acts of God."

He vividly re-creates the final voyage of each and the events surrounding the disasters. The book's final section, an unforgettable seminar on seamanship, explores the roles played by ship stability, structural integrity, weather, human error, and standards of risk in tragedies at sea.

Customer Reviews:

Must read for any serious sailor.......2007-01-10

I am new to sailing and not a captain and have not sailed the seven seas. However, this book is the best lesson any new sailor can learn because it is a very good analysis of why ships sink, any ship, not just a tall ship. The key is that these are very big ships that people equate with safety but the principles outlined in this book apply to all boats.

I feel sad for the lose of life due to these sinkings and the author makes it clear that prevention of future occurances is his goal in writing this book.

I highly recommend this book.

why some ships sink.......2004-02-02

Readers seeking spine-tingling narratives of sea disasters will be disappointed with Tall Ships Down, because this brilliant book is instead a penetrating analysis of the circumstances of loss of several traditional sail ships in recent times. In five lucid essays, the author uses each sinking to illuminate the intersection of changes in nautical technological traditions, situational decision-making, and construction of sailing heritage. Beyond sailors or maritime buffs, this superbly written work should capture anyone interested in the sociology of technological change. The author is thoughtful and engaging, with his experience as captain of large traditional sail ships only one source of the book's extraordinary insights. Tall Ships Down will take its place as a classic alongside technology and culture studies such as Hilton's Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic. I'd consider it a shame if the author does not give us next a full-length treatment of the sinking of the Pamir, or a biography of Alan Villiers.

A Great Read.......2003-05-15

This book is a great read for both professional mariners and armchair sailors alike. Professionals will appreciate the insight into these disasters and their causes, while the armchair sailor will find the sea stories fascinating enough to keep their interest. The author's writing style is easy to read, and his research is fairly extensive. All in all an outstanding book that deserves a place in any nautical library.

A Must-Read for Professional Sailors.......2002-10-24

This book is an outstanding study of five sail training vessel accidents. It is not only interesting, but full of important lessons for all sailors, particularly for professional sailors of traditional vessels. Captain Parrott has done the sailing world a great service by analysing these tragedies, not with romance or melodrama, but with compassion and empathy. As a seasoned professional himself, he investigates without being judgemental, and provides us with information we can use to prevent future accidents.

Average customer rating:

Great Read
Once a Pearson fan, Always a Pearson fan
Not one of his better books.
Terrible. Hard to read. Disconnected.
One of his first ... one of his best

Blood of the Albatross
Ridley Pearson
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0312951833

Book Description

Seattle sailing instructor by day, rock musician by night, Jay Becker leads a life others only dream about....until he meets his new sailing student. A German beauty named Marlene, she soon sparks trouble beyond Jay's darkest imagining: beyond the lies about her "employer"-a shadowy figure known only as Albatross....beyond the brutal deaths surfacing in her wake....Soon Becker will be drowning in a sea of stolen U.S. defense secrets and high treason, trapped by a cold savagery that will test-or break-his last mortal fiber....

Customer Reviews:

Great Read.......2006-02-24

Ridley Pearson just keeps getting better. I have read all of his books and have never been disappointed. His mysteries keep you enthralled right to the last page.

Once a Pearson fan, Always a Pearson fan.......2000-05-31

It is one of his earlier books, and you must appreciate the late 1980's setting. I enjoyed some of his (Nelson)Demille-esque spy-chasing, and giggled at the name of the band. It conjures up images of a big haired and sweat-banded singer. Seriously, though, It is a good tale with several different story lines running throughout which finally meet. The international scope is welcome after his more recent domestic series. The bottom line is that it is a good read, Still Pearson, and is a testament to the talent he has.

Not one of his better books........2000-05-03

Jay Becker, sailing instructor and part-time musician, takes on the beautiful, but aloof Marlene as a new student. Soon Jay finds himself engulfed in an FBI sting operation with discredited agent Roy Kapella, and shady German spy Iben Holst. Will Jay survive as Iben Holst sends his trusted Chinese henchman, John Chu, after Jay to silence him permanently? Will Roy Kapella be able to trap Holst and his shadowy boss, the notorius Wilhelm? It all hangs in the balance until almost the last page.

Did I like this book? Well...not as much as other of Mr. Pearson's books. The plot seemed unecessarily convoluted to me and at times seemed to wander. Another reviewer wrote that this was Ridley Pearson's second book, and I can believe it. It doesn't show much of the style of his later works, especially the well-written Lou Boldt novels. It's possible my problem with the book is more the genre than the book itself since this book is more a spy type novel rather than a mystery. I've never really been partial to spy novels. My recommendation? Give it a try. Mr. Pearson is still a good writer, better than many out there.

Terrible. Hard to read. Disconnected........1998-10-16

I've read other books by Ridley Pearson that I enjoyed. This book ,however was sophomoric writing.Poor research and a disconnected story line. I struggled to control my annoyance enough to complete the book.

One of his first ... one of his best.......1997-09-22

I have just finished the only book by Ridley Pearson I had not read. Just by saying that you know I am one of his many fans. Blood of the Albatross is his second book, but in many ways one of his best. In most of his books the plot is centered about 1 or 2 characters and how they interact to carry on the plot line. Although the plot of this book is not super complex, the characterisations make the book great. The story is told from at least 4 character's view points with each character developed over a period of time in the book. As with all Ridley Pearson books, you can visualize everything that is happening, the plot line is keeps you guessing and after a while you just have to keep reading it until it's done. To other Ridley Pearson fans I say ... don't miss this

Collins Albatross Book of Verse: English and American Poetry from the Thirteenth Century to the Present Day

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Collins Albatross Book of Verse: English and American Poetry from the Thirteenth Century to the Present Day
Louis Untermeyer
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0004246705

Annotated Ancient Mariner: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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An excellent book!
Exhaustive "Rime"

Annotated Ancient Mariner: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1591021251

Book Description

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's greatest work, THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, is utterly unique, unlike any other ballad. No narrative poem has rivaled it in combining scenes of terror with scenes of incomparable beauty. Although enormously popular in the nineteenth century, it is seldom read or studied today. This annotated version by Martin Gardner will help to renew our appreciation for and deepen our understanding of Coleridge's neglected masterpiece.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book!.......2007-10-17

This is well worth having, not only because of the fine annotations but also the wonderful illustrations. Some annotations, for me, seem to get in the way of reading the textl; in this volume, the annotation serves as a wonderful supplemental guide to the text. I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

Exhaustive "Rime".......2003-10-10

This is a very exhaustive presentation of the Rime. One heads up, though . . . this edition is not uniform in appearance and size with the other books in the "Annotated" series (i.e. The Annotated Alice, the Annotated Huckleberry Finn). It is larger and has a glossy cover.

Average customer rating:

Fight Against Albatross Two
Colin Thiele
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Fiction | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060260998

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