Oceans in Peril

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up That Fine has a deep love of the oceans and is vitally concerned about them is obvious. That this material has been thoroughly researched and is supported by personal interviews and experiences is clear. As a jolt to awareness of a major problem, this book succeeds, but it does have flaws. Cases of environmental destruction and pollution are given in a way that makes them appear as isolated instances and not as examples of worldwide problems. It is difficult to relate these instances to each other or to put them in perspective as no dates are mentioned. The writing is inconsistent. Terminology is not always defined; quotations from interviews seem contrived. There is a lengthy discussion of the cruelty of confining animals in zoos, and then praise for their educational and scientific contributions. One chapter introduces the work of Philippe Tailliez in France; without transitions, the scene shifts to Bonaire, Tahiti, and Yap. Then Tailliez reemerges in a later chapter. Controversial issues such as carbon dioxide creating a greenhouse effect and warming the earth and the role of corals in mass extinction are treated as irrefutable facts rather than hypotheses. Fine's advice as to what to do is to subscribe to one of the (adult) periodicals listed, contribute to the International Oceanographic Foundation (with which he is involved), and take his ``Ocean Pledge.'' Sedge's Commercialization of the Oceans (Watts, 1987) deals with the ecological, economic, and technical problems in a more balanced and coherent way. Meryl Silverstein, Meyer Levin Junior High School, Brooklyn