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Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them [Hardcover]

Ted Danson , Michael D'Orso
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 15, 2011
Most people know Ted Danson as the affable bartender Sam Malone in the long-running
television series Cheers. But fewer realize that over the course of the past two and a half
decades, Danson has tirelessly devoted himself to the cause of heading off a looming global
catastrophe—the massive destruction of our planet’s oceanic biosystems and the complete
collapse of the world’s major commercial fisheries.
 
In Oceana, Danson details his journey from joining a modest local protest in the mid-
1980s to oppose offshore oil drilling near his Southern California neighborhood to his current
status as one of the world’s most influential oceanic environmental activists, testifying before
congressional committees in Washington, D.C., addressing the World Trade Organization in
Zurich, Switzerland, and helping found Oceana, the largest organization in the world focused
solely on ocean conservation.
 
In his incisive, conversational voice, Danson describes what has happened to our oceans in
just the past half-century, ranging from the ravages of overfishing and habitat destruction to the
devastating effects of ocean acidification and the wasteful horrors of fish farms. Danson also
shares the stage of Oceana with some of the world’s most respected authorities in the fields
of marine science, commercial fishing, and environmental law, as well as with other influential
activists.
 
Combining vivid, personal prose with an array of stunning graphics, charts, and photographs,
Oceana powerfully illustrates the impending crises and offers solutions that may allow us
to avert them, showing you the specific courses of action you can take to become active,
responsible stewards of our planet’s most precious resource—its oceans.

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Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them + The Marine Biology Coloring Book, Second Edition
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Matching outrage with humor and hope, Danson provides inspiration and realistic guidelines for ending oceanic pillaging and poisoning in this engaging, alluringly illustrated volume." ---Booklist
--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

TED DANSON’s versatility in both television and film makes him one of the most accomplished and credible actors today. From his first feature film roles in Joseph Wambaugh’s The Onion Field (1979) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) to his starring role in the television series Cheers, Ted Danson has captivated audiences worldwide with his equally sensational dramatic and comedic performances. Danson currently stars in HBO’s Bored to Death. He recently appeared on the critically acclaimed legal drama Damages on FX, as well as HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. In addition to winning two Emmys and three Golden Globe Awards throughout his career, Danson has been nominated for twelve Emmys, eight Golden Globes, and one SAG Award.

MICHAEL D’ORSO’s work includes fifteen books; seven have been bestsellers
and three have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Rodale Books; First Edition edition (March 15, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1605292621
  • ISBN-13: 978-1605292625
  • Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 7.8 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
(19)
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow -- great book and read. Ted is a hero March 17, 2011
By lojo
Format:Hardcover
Important read -- Ted does a great job of letting us know about the crisis in our oceans and what we can do about it. And, the pictures, graphics make it easy to flip around. It is really something to learn that Ted has been working on this issue for 20 years. Share with your family and friends.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, beautiful, and scary March 28, 2011
Format:Hardcover
Oceana is a very beautiful and informative book. I always knew things were bad in our oceans (the big plastic "island" in the pacific, coral bleaching, ocean warming, overfishing, etc), but I really didn't know how bad. The pollution issues aside, we're basically strip-mining our oceans, acting like they're a never ending source of resources. Not so much...

The book is very plainly written and the facts are laid out well and free of most jargon. This is good... this book is easily accessible to most readers. There are lots of beautiful pictures as well as scary ones. The information is laid out in a very clean fashion with stuff like charts to help the average person understand the science / figures behind everything presented.

I'd recommend this book for everyone who cares about the environment, the oceans, or just eating fish. Ted Danson does a good job in his advocacy and presents solutions for the average person to take on. I went through this book in days and often had a hard time putting it down.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book Concluding Save the Ocean, Save the World May 4, 2011
Format:Hardcover
This book warns of the dangers to our oceans. Offshore drilling is threatening oceanic species, including many of the fish we consume. 90% of "big fish" species have disappeared over the last 60 years.

Of all of the living space on Earth, 1% is one land and 99% is in water. Aquatic life is threatened by human activities. For example, chemical runoff into Lake Erie has made is such aquatic life can't survive. Despite famous oil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and the 171 million gallon spill in 2010 into the Gulf of Mexico, we have been slow to have a sustained reaction that creates better protections of our waters.

The U.S. is the largest petroleum consumer, urging (in 2008) 19.5 million barrels of petroleum daily, followed by China at 7.8 million barrels.

"Minor" mishaps spill 15 million gallons of oil annually in North America. In addition, toxic chemicals used in the drilling process place 90,000 tons of toxins in the lifetime of a rig into the water, as measured by rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The book recommends decreasing fossil fuel consumption, less vehicle driving, more mass transit use, more electric or hybrid vehicles, and fewer petroleum based cosmetics.

Oxygen levels, required for aquatic life, are decreasing in oceans. The levels besides southern California have fallen almost 20% over the past quarter century. A fifth of the oceans are oxygen dead zones.

The ocean's ability to process carbonic acidity is decreasing. This is killing aquatic life. Almost 30% of all tropical reefs have disappeared in the last three decades. This upsets the ecosystem as about a quarter of all marine life relies on the coral reefs.

Overfishing is occurring.
... Read more ›
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
XXXXX

"The fact is--and this is the fundamental reason I've written this book--all are lives are intertwined with and, in the end dependent upon the health of the seas that surround us...And the health of those seas is declining, rapidly...In the pages that follow, I'd like to share what I've learned over the course of the past twenty-some years, and to introduce you to a number of gifted, deeply intelligent people who have devoted their lives to the cause of saving our oceans."

The above comes from this revealing book authored by Ted Danson (the main author) and Michael D'Orso. Danson is an actor perhaps best known for the television comedy series "Cheers" while D'Orso is a journalist and the author of several bestselling books.

In a nutshell, all the chapters (except the last one) looks at the many problems that face our oceans. The last chapter considers the possible solutions to these problems.

What can I say about this book? That's easy. This is THE book to read if you what to know what has been happening to the Earth's oceans in the past half-century.

(The Earth's oceans comprise about 71% of the Earth's surface. Even though the oceans are named individually, they really comprise a continuous body of water.)

The prose of this book is vivid and easy to read, and yes, at times, personal. It is accompanied by graphics, charts, and stunning, colour photographs.

Throughout this book, certain important statements found in the main narrative are also isolated from the main narrative.
... Read more ›
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Job !!! May 13, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a great book! Exceeded my expectations. Ted Danson have done a good job inspiring the conservation of our oceans. The book is packed with good information on overfishing, oil drilling, dumping trash and plastic in the oceans, acidification, destroying the bottom of the oceans, etc. And talking about plastics, here is note from personal experience. As commercial fisherman I witness the damage done by plastics to the oceans, it all became clear four decades ago when I caught a ballyhoo (Hemiramphus Brasiliensis) with a rubber band inserted from side to side of its body; how this ballyhoo managed to get inside the rubber band is a big mystery. And now let's get back to the book review. Ted Danson is no Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, but he did an outstanding job describing what is happening to our oceans and what we can do RIGHT NOW to protect what we have left. At the end of each chapter you will find the "What You Can Do" listing. Some of the items on the what you can do listing are very simple, for example (this one is dealing with the senseless practice of cashing sharks just to remove their fins) to help ending shark finning, just don't eat the shark fin soup. The book is full of stunning photos, it is informative, packed with graphics, facts, sidebars written by subject matter experts and friends. Chapter Seven (Blue Revolution) dealing with fish farming, was an eye opener. Over fifty percent of all the seafood consumed worldwide in 2009 was farmed. For the salmon lovers (this writer included), I was not aware that it takes from three to five pounds of feed (that is, fish caught in the wild) to produce one pound of farmed salmon. I recommend this book to those who care for our oceans (and for our planet). Perfect gift for friends and family members.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone can take action to save our oceans
Hard data and the author's personal commitment make this reading an important primer on the issue, especially for those who want to understand what is going on with the ocean's... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Carlos Loyola
5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource
This book is filled with pictures and details explaining what we are doing to our precious oceans. Buy it and see for yourself.
Published 2 months ago by Patricia A Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Full of beautiful photographs and interesting information for ocean conservationists. Oceana is a wonderful org. Really happy with this purchase.
Published 2 months ago by Bluangel
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
An amazing account of our history and our oceans. I read it cover to cover in 2 days. I would use this as a text for any environmental course high school or college level.
Published 13 months ago by Laura Dustin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
I, like everyone else, hear bits and pieces of issues of the ocean. I had no idea of all of the catalysts that were involved with the ocean's demise (realistically the planet's... Read more
Published 13 months ago by PitaKid
3.0 out of 5 stars It's OK
Great topic, passionate yet simple writing but so incredibly fragmented there was no flow to it at all. A book without a story, unfortunately
Published 13 months ago by SeaBiscuit
5.0 out of 5 stars Awakens your realization
This is a fascinating read and makes you realize what is actually happening to our oceans. This book is thoroughly interesting without being over technical. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Oceangirl1
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and informative
I saw Ted Danson interviewed on a television show and that afternoon ordered his book. The pictures are beautiful, but more important to me, is the style in which he writes. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Barbara West-Henline
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for everyone - in schools, by citizens, and by...
Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.

This is an absolutely beautiful, well-written, well-constructed, and thoroughly researched book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by rlweaverii
5.0 out of 5 stars Oceana - the reveal of our ocean
I got this book as my English class assignment. I don't usually write reviews, but I'm glad that I've read the book. It is very informational. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Tsui W. Kit
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