Book Review - Far From Land - Princeton University Press

     After due consideration, looking back on my life, if I had it all to do again, ignoring prior restraints that would have in reality mitigated against such a choice, I would be a seabird biologist. Little, it seems to me, could have much greater appeal than to get paid for researching what is surely one of the most fascinating group of organisms on earth - or should that be at sea?
     Thus it was with great pleasure that I received an advance copy of Far From Land (a lovely, evocative title to be sure) for review. Not only did the subject hold instant appeal, it was heartwarming to see that its author is Michael Brooke, whose output I have long admired by way of his prior work on albatrosses and petrels, and his co-editing of The Cambridge Encylopedia of Ornithology. along with Tim Birkhead. This was akin to an aficionado of a novelist getting his hands on the next title. And I read it with the same voracious enthusiam!

     Through Brooke's eyes I would relive the incredible excitement, and emotional high, of my first albatross in the Benguela Current off the coast of South Africa, one of the richest feeding grounds for pelagic species in the world.
     Michael Brooke writes with all the expertise and knowledge of a seasoned biologist, consolidating years of research into one easily readable book, but displays a wry sense of humour, unrevealed in strictly scientific works. The format makes a complex topic accessible to a reader with even a bare minimum of prior knowledge.
     It has always been relatively easy to track landbirds, with devices as simple as a metal band placed on their leg with an identifying number, and even though the recovery rate is minimal, information is built up over time as to the migratory patterns of numerous species, with inferences on routes taken, flight speeds, stopover areas, and other useful information. Consider for a moment the near impossibility of tracking seabirds, who spend the bulk of their lives far away from land, traversing and sometimes circumnavigating the globe. A metal band is as likely to wind up in the stomach of a shark as to be recovered ashore.
     The development of mini satellites and the increased miniaturization and sophistication of trackers (and other devices) has now made it possible to follow seabirds on their peregrinations around the globe. Many prior held assumptions about migratory routes have been dispelled and new information has been gathered about the different dispersal and feeding patterns of adults versus juveniles. Data has been amassed and analyzed on the mix of birds feeding in areas with changing productivity layers - and countless other topics, all organized in chapters following on one from the other.
     There is an extensive bibliography for each chapter, enabling anyone with sufficient curiosity to explore these topics in far more detail.
     The text is enough to satisfy the discriminating reader, but an added bonus is a series of exquisite illustrations by Bruce Pearson, a wildlife artist whose delicate touch is well known to many natural history enthusiasts.

       I found this art especially pleasing and it added measurably to the enjoyment of the work. 
      And to cap it all, I discovered a new word.  The word is rumbustious, defined in the Oxford Dictionary as "noisy, boisterous, uproarious." This descriptive is used by Brooke to denote the attitude of a bird he was handling, but perhaps seabird biologists like him are a tad rumbustious at times. Would that I were one of them.

Publication date: 21 March 2018     Price: US$29.95