THE Official Magazine of the OCEANOGRAPHY SOCIETY

OceanTe h Official Magazineog of the Oceanographyraphy Society

CITATION Wadhams, P. 2010. Review of Ocean: Reflections on a Century of Exploration, by W.H. Berger. Oceanography 23(1):222–224, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2010.103.

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Ocean: Reflections on a Century of Exploration

By Wolf H. Berger, with contributions by haven’t been able to get a job there. So E.N. Shor, University of California Press, Berger’s bias can be excused. 2009, 519 pages, ISBN 978-0-520-24778-9, His survey is set at a fairly elementary Hardcover, $59.95 US. level, rather like those introductory textbooks of the 1960s that sit on the Reviewed by Peter Wadhams bookshelves of older oceanographers, but it says much for the rate of prog- I will always remember my first visit to ress of oceanography that it takes him Scripps Institution of Oceanography to 519 pages to give even a basic account see Walter Munk. It was a November (although I learned much from it). A lot lunchtime when I arrived at a sun- of the growth since those heady 1960s drenched Institute of Geophysics and days comes from marine geophysics and “Unravelling the Gulf Stream Puzzles” Planetary Physics (IGPP), perched on marine biology. The revolution in Earth starts with the origin and structure of its cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. sciences from plate tectonics, the role of the Gulf Stream, but goes on to consider Walter was sitting in his bathing shorts geothermal vents, and the discovery of the dynamics of ocean current systems at the picnic table outside the IGPP cyanobacteria show how ocean science in general, paying generous tribute to the entrance. In the background, groups has massively expanded at both ends of work of Henry Stommel of the Woods of younger oceanographers passed by the size scale. Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), carrying surfboards. I had just arrived Berger begins with a brief history of Scripps’ deadly rival, as well as to that from a cold, rainy, miserable Cambridge, oceanography, then he gives “A Portrait of Walter Munk. This warm current England, and I gazed at the scene of the Ocean Planet,” a survey of the flowing north is then contrasted with a with amazement possibly tinged with ocean and its properties, in 28 pages. cold current running south, in “Sardines censoriousness. Seeing my expression, Fourteen more chapters then follow on and the California Current.” This chapter Walter smiled and said, “You don’t more specialized topics that are treated begins with the famous collapse of the have to suffer to do good science!” I in the same clear, simple, and enter- sardine fishery but goes on to deal with would like to suggest this as the official taining manner. “Life at the Edge of a upwelling processes and El Niño. motto of Scripps. Fertile Sea” deals with the coastal and “Meadows and Deserts of the Sea” To write a survey of oceanography intertidal zone, especially of California, deals with ocean productivity and the based mainly on work done by Scripps giving some recent insights to update the food web in the sea. “Of Whales and could be taken as presumptuous, for immortal work of Ricketts and Calvin, Sharks and Giant Squid,” coauthored this is what Wolf Berger has done in his Between Pacific Tides, first published in with E.N. Shor, is a fascinating account book Ocean. But of course it is not, for 1939. “Of Coral Reefs and Atolls” covers of the largest creatures in the sea. The much of the history of oceanography the tragic story of damaged and ruined authors are commendably coura- since 1903 is the history of Scripps. It reefs, showing how difficult it now is to geous in giving space to the evidence has always attracted the best oceanogra- find a pristine reef anywhere. for sea serpents and other possible phers because it combines a formidable “The Zen of the Beach” ranges giant creatures, referring to the work research ethic with a setting in one of widely, from the origin and fate of of Ed Bousfield and Paul LeBlond in the most beautiful places in the world. In beaches, drawing on the work of Scripps analyzing sightings of a creature they fact, one sometimes feels that there are scientist D.L. Inman, to the sources of named Cadborosaurus off Vancouver only two types of oceanographers: those swell, drawing on the work of Walter Island. “The Deep, the Cold, the Dark” who work at Scripps and those who Munk, and the history of sea-level rise. deals with life in the unlit depths of the

222 Oceanography Vol.23, No.1 ocean, from midwater fish with photo- dealt with in detail. “Abyssal Memories” a stream of consciousness artfully phores down to the benthos. “Seeing in takes us further back into climate history designed to look random. This construc- the Dark” introduces acoustic ocean- through the results of the Deep-Sea tion makes the book a pleasure to ography, starting with sounds created Drilling Project, which was originally read, as each chapter looks like a self- by fish themselves, and moving on to managed at Scripps in the 1960s before contained essay. Ocean also contains a the deep scattering layer and to seismic becoming a Texas A&M responsibility in useful set of appendices. refraction and reflection methods for 1985. The final chapter is highly specula- One of the delights of the book is investigating the seabed. Acoustic ther- tive: “Global Warming and the Ocean” the lengthy set of gossipy footnotes mometry of the ocean is described, but traces out the current controversies to each chapter, which expand on the the more general technique of ocean relating to the mechanisms of present personalities involved in the work and acoustic tomography, invented by Walter climate change, and the role of the ocean their interactions, and also direct us to a Munk and Carl Wunsch of MIT, is not. in the greenhouse effect. As has often mass of further books and reading. We This omits a development important to happened, a pioneering effort from learn, for instance, in Chapter 7, that Scripps (and WHOI), and also a unifying Scripps can be identified in the 1957 Carl Hubbs, a Scripps icthyologist, used trend in oceanography. Munk has drawn paper of Roger Revelle and Hans Suess to take his graduate students on field attention to the way in which acoustic on carbon dioxide exchange between trips in the 1940s, and forced them to oceanography and “normal” physical the atmosphere and the ocean, showing spend the evenings and nights sorting oceanography developed independently, that the ocean was not in fact capable of fish while allowing them to cook some for different purposes, and with different absorbing all the additional CO2 pumped of the specimens for dinner. Luckily, he ways of defining and looking at the phys- out by human action, but must result in prevented them from eating cabezon, ical nature of the ocean. Each has much a rise in atmospheric levels. This conclu- which he suspected of being poisonous, to learn from the other, and it is time to sion led to the Mauna Loa observations, and he and chemist Arne Wick then unify the two views. and the rest is modern history. experimented on cabezon specimens, “Mountains, Trenches, Sunken The epilogue deals with the future, finding that the roe killed rats and Islands” moves into Berger’s own terri- and what we can do to halt the warming guinea pigs while the flesh was harm- tory of marine geophysics. This chapter and pollution of the ocean and the less. One of Hubbs’ voyages was funded deals with the exciting history of how destruction of its ecosystems. It ends by the actor Errol Flynn, who quickly seafloor spreading was established as with a plea for public education in jumped ship to party in Acapulco a fact and the scramble to discover the Earth sciences, but equally a plea for while the scientists collected speci- arrangement and mode of operation of public education toward environmental mens, resulting in a movie called “The the tectonic plates that make up Earth’s stewardship, that is, toward a sense of Cruise of the Zaca.” Dipping in again, crust and that are most accessible and responsibility for the future of the ocean in Chapter 11 we learn that a fiendishly dynamic under the ocean. and the planet. “Without participation of dangerous electrical sound source for The later chapters bring us into newly a committed public, scientific knowledge seismic reflection, called the Rayflex developed areas of research where much will not translate into political action.” Arcer, was operated safely by the Scripps remains undiscovered and much else is This is a call for public action from marine technician Harold Sammuli only controversial. “The Ocean’s Memory of marine scientists. because his body was found to have an the Ice Ages” deals with the impact of the As shown above, although the book unusually high resistance to electricity. ice ages on ocean structure, and also the ends up covering most major topics in These historical snippets are absolutely role of the ocean in the descent into, and oceanography, it is not structured in fascinating and humanize the process of recovery from, the ice ages. In particular, a didactic way, but each chapter goes oceanography—although ocean science the unsolved question of the origin of on from one starting point and seem- has always seemed the most human the two-stage recovery from the last ice ingly naturally wends its way through of the sciences, the one most closely age, via the Younger Dryas reversion, is a number of connected topics, like connected to the enthusiasms and foibles

Oceanography March 2010 223 of the scientists who created it. started in 1893, not 1883. References Elizabeth N. Shor, the historian at I thoroughly recommend this book, Revelle, R., and H. Suess. 1957. Carbon dioxide exchange between atmosphere and ocean and

Scripps, is co-author of two of the chap- not only to oceanographers of every kind the question of an increase of atmospheric CO2 ters, on giant creatures and underwater and age, but also to general readers. It is during the past decades. Tellus 9:18–27. Ricketts, E., and J. Calvin. 1992. Between Pacific acoustics, but makes her presence felt enormously enjoyable and informative. Tides, 5th ed. Stanford University Press, strongly throughout in supplying histor- Stanford, CA, 680 pp. ical material to the footnotes sections. Peter Wadhams (p.wadhams@damtp. There are bound to be a few errors in cam.ac.uk) is Professor, Department of such a huge book. I only noticed two: Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Alfred Russel Wallace (who is given due Physics, University of Cambridge, credit for his role in discovering evolu- Cambridge, UK, and Université Pierre et tion) spelled his middle name with one Marie Curie, Laboratoire d’Océanographie, “l”, not two, and the voyage of the Fram Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.

Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans

Edited by Karen McLeod and Heather and photographs that support the text, Leslie, Island Press, 2009, 392 pages, ISBN and critical information in each of 978-1-59726-155-5, Paperback, $45 US the chapters is summarized in boxes. The book begins with a foreword Reviewed by Andrew Fischer by Jane Lubchenco (Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric By now, there is no mistaking that the Administration) and a preface by Anne oceans are in peril. But, how do we Guerry (Lead Scientist, National Capital move forward to address the problems Project’s Marine Initiative) highlighting and manage our ocean ecosystems for the interconnectedness and complex sustainability? How do we create new relationships among ecology, human basis of this approach is to conserve solutions to resource management interactions, and climate change in the ecosystems for the long-term delivery challenges that span biological, social, Arctic and Puget Sound ecosystems. of ecosystem services. Another key and political disciplines? The compila- They make a compelling case for the aspect of the approach espoused by the tion Ecosystem-Based Management for urgent need for ecosystem-based book is the incorporation of resilience the Oceans, edited by Karen MacLeod management (EBM). science, or embracing change and how and Heather Leslie, is probably the The first part of the volume is titled ecosystems respond to myriad human most comprehensive attempt at “Setting the Stage,” and the first two and natural influences. To overcome addressing these questions. chapters define EBM, provide a guide to traditional sector-based management The book is organized into five the volume, and spell out what resource challenges of current ocean manage- parts, and each of the 19 chapters is a managers need to implement an EBM ment regimes and deliver a robust contribution from a total of more than approach. Ecosystem-based management approach to EBM, Chapter 2 concludes 40 experts in the fields of marine science is defined as an “integrated approach to that managers will require, among other and management. Each of the chapters management that considers the entire things, a comprehensive and clear legal contains black-and-white illustrations ecosystem, including humans.” The mandate, scientific information that is

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