Wild Nature Press

Marianne Taylor is a freelance writer, editor, illustrator and photographer. Her books include RSPB British Birds of Prey, The Way of the Hare and Wild Coast: A Celebration of the Places Where Land Meets Sea. David Lindo is a naturalist, writer, broadcaster, speaker, photographer, wildlife tour leader and educator. His books include How to Be an Urban Birder (Princeton). A uniquely personal meditation on Britain's gulls by one of today's leading wildlife writers From a distance, gulls are beautiful symbols of freedom over the oceanic wilderness. Up close, however, they can be loud, aggressive and even violent. Yet gulls fascinate birdwatchers, and seafarers regard them with respect and affection. The Gull Next Door explores the natural history of gulls and their complicated relationship with humans. Marianne Taylor grew up in an English seaside town where gulls are ever present. Today, she is a passionate advocate for these underappreciated birds. In this book, Taylor looks at the different gull species and sheds light on all aspects of the lives of gulls-how they find food, raise families, socialize and migrate across sea, coastland and countryside. She discusses the herring gull, Britain's best-known and most persecuted gull species, whose numbers are declining at an alarming rate. She looks at gulls in legend, fiction and popular culture, and explains what we can do to protect gull populations around the world. The Gull Next Door reveals deeper truths about these remarkable birds. They are thinkers and innovators, devoted partners and parents. They lead long lives and often indulge their powerful drive to explore and travel. But for all these natural gifts, many gull species are struggling to survive in the wild places they naturally inhabit, which is why they are now exploiting the opportunities of human habitats. This book shows how we might live more harmoniously with these majestic yet misunderstood birds. "She'll make gull lovers of us all!"---Rebecca Gibson, BBC Wildlife Magazine "It's sure to make even gull sceptics among us look to the sky in new, profound ways." "The Gull Next Door is ecologically rigorous."---Patrick Galbraith, The Critic "Taylor ... has written what I consider the best book on gulls I have read."---Jim Williams, Star Tribune "The book is full of great stories, and I really enjoyed the read, as you will."---John Miles, BirdWatching Magazine "[An] information-packed book."---Marc Bekoff, Animal Emotions "The Gull Next Door is one of those books that is interesting, enlightening, at times making the reader smile and the author's enthusiasm for these birds is definitely infectious through these pages. This is an enjoyable book that gull experts and novices can enjoy, but most of all it is an enjoyable read for anyone who loves birds."---Nick Upton, Dartford Waffler "[An] informative, thoughtful, and entertaining book."---Johannes Riutta, The Well-read Naturalist

Colin Speedie has the sea in his blood. Born in Aberdeen within sight of the North Sea, he began his nautical apprenticeship as a child in Devon, sailing small boats around the local coastline. As time went by, a love of exploration led him to extend his horizons beyond the English Channel, altering course northwards through the Irish Sea to the wild waters of the Western Isles of Scotland. A professional yacht skipper for much of his life, he took a circuitous route to marine conservation, skippering scientific research vessels on projects studying whales, dolphins, sharks, seabirds and turtles. He is best known for his pioneering work spearheading one of Britain's longest running boat-based citizen science studies on the whereabouts of the Basking Shark through Britain's western seaboard. His findings have enabled government agencies, university teams and fellow sea-users to better understand this enigmatic creature. With sailing, wilderness, history, conservation and writing as his life's callings, Colin's destiny has become entwined with the fate of the Basking Shark. This book, in which he compellingly documents our changing attitudes to the shark through true tales of adventure and drama on the high seas, is a tribute to the many people who have contributed to its protection. Their work can be deemed one of conservation's success stories. Colin and his wife Louise divide their time between their home in Falmouth, Cornwall, and sailing the world aboard their yacht Pèlerin – French for 'Basking Shark'. There are few marine creatures as spectacular as the Basking Shark. At up to 11 metres in length and seven tonnes in weight, this colossal, plankton-feeding fish is one of the largest in the world, second only to the whale shark. Historically, Basking Sharks were a familiar sight in the northern hemisphere – off the coasts of Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the USA, for example. In an 18th Century world without electricity, they became the focus of active hunting for their huge livers containing large amounts of valuable oil, primarily used in lamps. Catch numbers were small enough to leave populations largely intact, but during the 20th Century a new breed of hunter joined the fray, some driven as much by a need for adventure as for financial gain. With improved equipment and experience, they exploited the shark on an industrial scale that drastically reduced numbers, leading to localised near-extinction in some areas. From the 1970's onward a new generation took to the seas, this time with conservation in mind to identify where the shark might still be found in the waters around the British Isles, employing new technologies to solve long-standing mysteries about the behaviour of this elusive creature. Using the best of both old and new research techniques, the case was built to justify the species becoming one of the most protected sharks in the oceans. Today, the Basking Shark is a much-loved cornerstone of our natural heritage. There are positive signs that the population has stabilised and may even be slowly recovering from the damage of the past, proving that timely conservation measures can be effective. Join us on a journey amidst wild seas, places, people and conservation history in the battle to protect this iconic creature – a true sea monster's tale. "A Sea Monster's Tale . . . . reveals the history of shark hunting in UK waters, while transporting the reader on a voyage through stormy seas charting this elusive misunderstood plankton-feeding fish, to its protected status today."---Polly Pullar, The Scots Magazine "Speedie is considered among the top basking shark experts, and this well-researched, detailed book reflects that."---Cat Gordon, Diver Magazine " Authoritative and well written . . . . The book truly comes alive with Speedie's recollections of his early basking shark surveys."---Paul Critcher, Geographical "An engaging and well-researched summary of wh