The author's previous work (
The Enchanted Braid: Coming to Terms With Life on the Coral Reef) was a successful blend of aesthetic appreciation, scientific enquiry and environmental manifesto and, in my opinion, a ‘must’ companion to the shoals of diving holidaymakers now venturing to the tropics. I had high expectations of
Fire in the Turtle House. ..and I was not disappointed.
Fire in the Turtle House deals with the incredible pressures faced by the green sea turtle throughout the world and points alarmingly to wider environmental concerns that threaten the fabric of the worlds oceans. Davidson shows how turtles have been hunted to populations that are a shadow of their former glory and how they now face widespread fibropapillomatosis (or ‘FP’), a debilitating plague of tumours that threatens to consign them to the history books.
The author has researched the material for the book with characteristic rigour whilst travelling to the major locations and visiting dedicated experts in turtle research, conservation and management. The writing has a solid scientific foundation but in this book the 'story' of the FP outbreak is unfolded piece by piece through the evocative accounts of the experiences of the people that are responsible for our understanding of the mounting present day plague. The book gathers pace from the first discovery of FP into a race-against-time; becoming increasingly difficult to put down.
This has been deservedly described as "science writing at its best". I believe that the way the world's oceans are managed needs to change and if you ever doubted it you should read this book.
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