The Antarctic Dive Guide: Third Edition
Jun09

The Antarctic Dive Guide: Third Edition

By Gabriel Thoumi There are some things I can imagine doing, and then are some things I can never imagine doing. Scuba diving in the Antarctic is in the latter category. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever consider scuba diving in Antarctic. I do not like cold water. I do not like mildly cold water. I can barely swim in tepid water. In The Antarctic Dive Guide: Fully Revised and Updated Third edition, Lisa Eareckson Kelley...

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A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World
Jun09

A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World

By Gabriel Thoumi Why should we be interested in learning about sharks and concerned about the role they play in our Earth’s oceans? Sharks form a critical cornerstone supporting regulation of our Earth’s oceans. Sharks In A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World by David A. Ebert, Sarah Fowler & Marc Dando, we learn about the 501 shark species currently identified, including the 77 shark species newly identified since 2005, that...

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Thank You, Madagascar: Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly – book review
Mar03

Thank You, Madagascar: Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi In Thank You, Madagascar: Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly, Dr. Jolly tells the riveting, personal, and often heroic tale of Madagascar conservation. For over fifty years, from her first steps in Madagascar in the early 1960s to her most recent visit before her untimely passing February 2014, she takes the reader step-by-step through Madagascar’s conservations successes and challenges as the countries careens...

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Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition – Book Review
Jan12

Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition – Book Review

By Gabriel Thoumi Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition is a wonderful updated and expanded second edition to the original Birds of New Guinea published 28 years ago. New Guinea is the world’s largest and possibly most diverse tropical island. Ranging from glaciers to steep volcanic valleys to scrubland to remote islands, New Guinea also has some of the most diverse avifauna on Earth, including the bulk of the world’s rightly...

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Birds of Western Africa – book review
Jan06

Birds of Western Africa – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is a fully updated and comprehensive expansion of the first edition, which was the winner of the 2004 Best Bird Book – Africa, Worldtwitch. This revised second edition, which is both compact and lightweight, is a must for any naturalist or scientist working in the region. The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is authoritative and easy to use. It is the most...

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The Passenger Pigeon – book review
Oct30

The Passenger Pigeon – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi In 1800, passenger pigeons may have counted for 2 out of every 5 living birds in North America. Their flocks were in the billions. By 1914, they became extinct when Martha – the last passenger pigeon – died in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo. On the 100th year anniversary of her death, a new book, simply called The Passenger Pigeon, is a stunningly illustrated and rich cultural memorial to Martha – the last passenger...

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The Bee: A Natural History – book review
Oct29

The Bee: A Natural History – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Did you know… There are 20,000 species of bees on Earth. Bees pollinate 130 of the foods we depend on and are often the sole and only pollinator of the foods we eat every day. Bees and other animals cross-pollinate over 90 percent of Earth’s plants. Bees co-evolved, along with angiosperms – flowering plants – over 100 million years ago. Ancient Egyptians were avid beekeepers possibly as far back as 5,000 BCE – or...

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A Dangerous Life – Graphic Novel Review
Oct27

A Dangerous Life – Graphic Novel Review

By Gabriel Thoumi A Dangerous Life is a graphic novel for young teens written by Sheila Hamanaka. It describes the story of an American girl – Amelia – and her life changing experiences when she witnesses an elephant slaughter in Kenya. The graphic novel  is a wonderful gift for any young person who is interested in conservation. The language and tone are appropriate for young adults while heartstrings will be pulled as Amelia learns...

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In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians – book review
Oct24

In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians describes the great quest to rediscover long-lost and presumed extinct frogs, toads, and salamanders not seen between 15 and 140 years ago. Since the turn of the millennium, over 250 amphibians have not been seen or recorded by science – many now presumed extinct – and it is estimated that over half of the Earth’s 7,000 amphibians are currently...

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Penguins: The Ultimate Guide – book review
Oct22

Penguins: The Ultimate Guide – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Penguins: The Ultimate Guide IS the ultimate guide to penguins. With more than 400 pictures detailing all 18 penguin species on Earth, this book will educate and delight you. While it is a bona fide bird book, Penguins: The Ultimate Guide is also a beautiful coffee table book that would make a great gift for any wildlife lover. Penguins: The Ultimate Guide will provide you with interesting facts about penguins,...

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Wildlife of the Caribbean– book review
Aug08

Wildlife of the Caribbean– book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Wildlife of the Caribbean is the only book of its kind. It is a comprehensive guide to the fauna and flora of the Caribbean Islands, containing color images on a broad range of animals and plants including birds, mammals, plants, seashells, fish, turtles, cetaceans, and others. The primary goal of the Wildlife of the Caribbean is to promote an interest and knowledge by locals and tourists in the natural environment...

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A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Tanzania – book review
Aug05

A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Tanzania – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Tanzania provides the most up-to-date guidebook for trekking in Tanzania. It includes detailed species accounts and delightful photos of 135 of the larger mammals of Tanzania. It is the first book to include both marine mammals and recently discovered species of Tanzania. While Tanzania has over 340 recorded mammal species, over 200 of these are rodents, bats, and shrews. For...

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The Amazing World of Flyingfish – book review
Aug01

The Amazing World of Flyingfish – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Do you remember when you were a kid and you heard about flyingfish for the first time? I do. I was amazed. Fish that could fly! I wondered how far they flew and if they flew for real. The first time I saw flyingfish in person, I had the good fortune to be sailing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, south to north. We were giddy with delight to see these amazing small fish of the sea. In The Amazing World of...

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A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring– book review
Jul30

A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring– book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Great Britain is known as a nation of birdwatchers – or twitchers – who will travel to great lengths to conserve bird habitat and to observe birds in the wild. Yet in certain circumstances, Great Britain’s birds of prey are persecuted. This cultural dichotomy is explored in wonderful detail in A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring. Great Britain has 15 species of birds of prey,...

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Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley – book review
Jul28

Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi   Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley is another Adam Scott Kennedy tour de force! Following up on the Kennedys’ series of bird and mammal books for Kenyan and Tanzanian travelers, previously described here on Mongabay.com. The Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley is ideal for the traveler on safari visiting the Rift Valley’s national parks, such as Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Mount Longonot, and Hell’s Gate. The...

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The Extreme Life of the Sea – book review
Jul25

The Extreme Life of the Sea – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi   The Extreme Life of the Sea, written by father and son team Stephen R. Palumbi and Anthony R. Palumbi, is simply a tour de force, a splendid must read for any natural history enthusiast. In The Extreme Life of the Sea, we are taken through the challenges of the Earth’s oceans. From its great depths and abysses to extreme pressures and anaerobic environments, and in each location, we learn about the remarkable...

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Bumble Bees of North America – book review
Jul23

Bumble Bees of North America – book review

By Gabriel Thoumi Bumble bees are remarkable. Domesticated bee colonies used for agriculture pollination is a global industry worth at least tens of billions annually. Roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of all food consumed in North America relies upon bumble bee pollination. About 80 percent of European crop species require insect pollination. In parts of China, because of the disappearance of bumble bees, pollination of apple and pear...

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