Book Review - Penguins, The Ultimate Guide, Second Edition - Princeton University Press

 

I have often had the impression that, to penguins, man is just another penguin - different, less predictable, occasionally violent, but tolerable company when he sits still and minds his own business.

Bernard Stonehouse

          I have eight books on penguins on my shelf, including the first edition of this work, plus coverage of penguins in books on Antarctic wildlife,  and a couple others dealing with Roger Tory Peterson's fascination with these birds, and had you asked me whether I need another volume on penguins I might have answered, "No!" How wrong I would have been, and where good reference books are concerned what you need and what you value and cherish are two different things entirely!

     I have long been a great admirer of Tui De Roy and it always strikes me that she and her colleagues possess that rare quality that enables scientists to combine their technical proficiency with the sheer love of nature, with no conflict between the two. 

     The text throughout the book weaves this thread of intermingled biology and science, with an irrepressible joy for penguins. And, oh my goodness, the pictures! The pictures! Every single page is illustrated with stunning portraits of these most enchanting of birds, loved universally. 

     The fact that they are so admired, however, has not prevented the desperate plight of all penguin species, some of which are perilously teetering on the precipice of extinction. To refer to the wisdom of Bernard Stonehouse (surely one of the most under-rated Antarctic biologists) again, "Today it is impossible to think of animals without  concern for man's impact on them."

     To cite from this book, on African Penguins, "However, all does not bode well for their future. From an estimated original population of around 1.5 million, a century ago, today a mere 25,000 breeding pairs remain, and even these numbers are still dropping."

     This dire condition may be extrapolated to all eighteen penguin species worldwide. 

     Rising sea temperatures are reducing their food supply, adults have to travel farther and farther to feed their young, global warming is depleting sea ice so critical to many species, introduced predators such as feral cats, rats, ferrets, stoats etc terrorize penguin colonies, and direct human expropriation of shoreline habitat is a death knell for some.

     There are dedicated penguin conservationists such as Shireen and Francis Helps, who should be an inspiration to us all (p. 112), but it will require more than the commitment of a small number of concerned humans to save some species. 

     In addition to a species-by-species account, entire sections are devoted to Science and Conservation, and as Tui De Roy succinctly states, "Life Between two Worlds."

      One is reminded that anything we can do to ameliorate the status of penguins in our ever more polluted oceans helps every other organism at the same time. Improved fish stocks for penguins means more food for albatrosses, petrels and other seabirds, to say nothing of cetaceans, pinnipeds, fish and other marine organisms. Ultimately, if we can bring ourselves to stop driving food stocks to extinction we too can benefit from better stewardship of the oceans.

     We are indeed part of an integrated web of life, but uniquely we are the only species capable of inflicting damage that may be permanent, or at a minimum endure for centuries.

    If we really cherish these birds that remind us so much of ourselves, then let's extrapolate those sentiments to a commitment to all do our part in the restoration of nature.

     Thank you Tui, Mark and Julie, and all the other contributors for an exceedingly fine book. Its focus is penguins, its message is universal. Let us all pay heed.

Penguins, The Ultimate Guide, Second Edition

Tui De Roy, Mark Jones and Julie Cornthwaite

Hard Cover - US$35.00 - ISBN 9780691233574

240 pages - 9.25 x 11.5 inches (23.125 x 28.75 cm)

Publication date: 19 April, 2022