Prowling the Seas: Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators
Turner, whose books include Gorilla Doctors (2005) and The Frog Scientist (2009), introduces the work of the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, in which scientists use electronic tags to trace the routes of hard-to-observe ocean animals. The first chapter shows the scientists tagging a leatherback turtle and tracking her course. The next chapter involves monitoring a bluefin tuna, which crisscrosses the Pacific for two years. In the next, a child finds a great white shark’s tag in a tide pool and returns it to the project. The last follows two mated shearwaters, seabirds that raise their young and then fly separately for thousands of miles before reuniting the following fall. In each chapter, a clearly delineated map makes it easy to follow the animals’ routes, and many clear color photos show the animals and the scientists who study them. Additional information on the four species is appended, along with lists of recommended reading, films, and Web sites. A clearly written presentation of an unusual topic. Grades 3-6. --Carolyn Phelan