The Jade Coast: Ecology of the North Pacific Ocean

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 176 pages
• Published by: Key Porter Books April 5, 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1552635139
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1552635131
• Book Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs: 1.3 pounds

Product Review
Delightful The well-crafted and informative narrative, complemented by the gorgeous color illustrations, vividly depicts the complex and delicate ecological relationships. (Gary Hulett Journal of the West )

Product Description


The verdant coastline from northern California to southeast Alaska bursts into a rich hue of jade green when the sun emerges from behind a brooding canopy of cloud. This is the Jade Coast - brooding in winter, sparkling in summer and always abounding with life.

The coastal waters of the Jade Coast support over 400 species of fish, 161 species of marine birds, 29 marine mammals and over 6500 species of invertebrates. The sheer abundance of some of these animals is staggering. The rivers support some of the largest salmon runs in the world. The estuaries and bays support millions of birds whose migrations span the western hemisphere. In the offshore waters, whales from Mexico and Hawaii feed below the ocean surface.

Among the myriad of islands, fjords, and channels are quiet coves within earshot of raging tidal passages, and near-Mediterranean climates within sight of rainforests and mountain-top glaciers. This mosaic of habitats and associated life forms make the evergreen shores of the North Pacific a Shangri La for the naturalist.

More than eighty stunning photographs grace The Jade Coast, and bring the book's important messages to life.

Reader Reviews
This book is an introduction to the ecology of the coastline between northern California and Alaska. It is an ambitious undertaking and the writer has been a park naturalist, wildlife biologist and Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He has a vast breadth and depth of knowledge of this topic and his research has been widely acclaimed. Unfortunately this book does not display either the writer or the topic to advantage. Once in a while the writer's passion for the coast and his personal knowledge of it peeks through, but in general it just reads like a textbook. The material is thorough and well-organized but it just doesn't come to life for the reader. The illustrations are nice, but hardly spectacular when you consider the incredible beauty and variety of this long stretch of coastline.