A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller!

California's coastline is world famous, an endless source of fascination and fantasy, but there is no book about it like this one. Obi Kaufmann, author-illustrator of The California Field Atlas and The Forests of California, now turns his attention to the 1,200 miles of the Golden State where the land meets the ocean. Bursting with color, The Coasts of California is in Kaufmann's signature style, fusing science with art and pure poetic reverie. And much more than a survey of tourist spots, Coasts is a full immersion into the astonishingly varied natural worlds that hug California's shoreline. With hundreds of gorgeous watercolor maps and illustrations, Kaufmann explores the rhythms of the tides, the lives of sea creatures, the shifting of rocks and sand, and the special habitats found on California's islands. At the book's core is an expansive, detailed walk down the California Coastal Trail, including maps of parks along the way--a wealth of knowledge for any coast-lover. The Coasts of California is a geographic epic, an odyssey in nature, a grand and glorious book for a grand and glorious part of the world.

The first edition of Florida's Living Beaches (2007) was widely praised. Now, the second edition of this supremely comprehensive guide has even more to satisfy the curious beachcomber, including expanded content and additional accounts with more than 1800 full-color photographs, maps, and illustrations.

It heralds the living things and metaphorical life along the state's 700 miles of sandy beaches. The expanded second edition now identifies and explains over 1400 curiosities, with lavishly illustrated accounts organized into Beach Features, Beach Animals, Beach Plants, Beach Minerals, and Hand of Man.

A fascinating guide to the secret worlds of the intertidal zone

The vast and diverse California coast is an awe-inspiring place of exploration and discovery, full of life forms that are shockingly unfamiliar. Intertidal fish that can breathe in air, worms that build entire reefs, and seaweeds that can be mistaken for tar spots--these are as common as the more familiar barnacles that eat with their feet. Unicorn snails lie still on the rocks as they drill into the shells of their prey, while purple urchins nestle into sides of rock walls and keyhole limpets fend off sea stars. Surfgrass covers tidepools and protects sensitive species from sun and heat while welcoming animals like spiny lobsters and kelpfish to cruise atop its tangled blades.

In this guidebook, scientific experts describe how land and water shape specific ecosystems of the intertidal zone. Richly illustrated and accessibly written, Between the Tides in California transforms readers into nearshore detectives, with each species offering unique clues about the environment around them.

Features include:

- Profiles of sites to visit ranging from remote seashores on the northern coast to the popular beaches of Southern California

- The fascinating stories behind both common and less familiar animal and plant species

- A lively introduction to how coastal ecosystems work and why no two beaches are ever alike

A new edition of the bestselling beachcomber's companion, updated with additional species, new information and photographs of West Coast seashore life, sure to enhance any trip to the beach!

The Pacific Northwest coast is home to one of the most diverse displays of intertidal marine life in the world, including sponges, clams, snails, crabs, sea stars, sea anemones, jellies, fishes, seaweeds and more. The New Beachcomber's Guide to the Pacific Northwest is a portable and easy-to-use reference for searching out and identifying the hundreds of species of seashore life found on the beaches of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Northern California and Southeast Alaska.

Covering the Pacific Northwest's most common shoreline-dwelling flora and fauna, the guide gives in each entry a detailed description of appearance and habitat accompanied by colour photos for easy identification of any creature you might encounter as you explore your local beach. Additional details about each species are included. Simple but essential information on tides and the various habitats within the intertidal zones is also provided to assist beachcombers in exploring safely without harming the creatures they are watching.

Thoroughly revised and packed with handy and accessible information, this guide belongs in the beach bag or backpack of any avid naturalist, amateur beachcomber or adventurous family.

In The Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast, Kirk Lombard combines a startling depth of knowledge with wry humor and colorful storytelling to guide readers' quests to hook fish, dig clams, and pick seaweed for themselves.

Lombard is a divinely inspired whack job--think Frank Zappa meets Aldo Leopold. If you have ever considered the idea of gathering something good to eat from the beach or surf ... you need this book.--Bill Heavy, editor-at-large, Field & Stream

Lombard, a former staff member at the state Department of Fish and Game and founder of the foraging tour company/seafood delivery service Sea Forager Seafood, insists that his readers follow all regulations and encourages sustainable practices above and beyond what the State of California requires. This quirky and useful how-to is sure to inspire an empowering epicurean adventure. Leighton Kelly's stunning, occasionally idiosyncratic illustrations complement practical instructions for gathering a variety of fish and seafood and delicious recipes for what to do with each catch.

Utilize this tabbed guide to learn about plants, animals, and seashells of the Pacific Coast.

Beaches are the borders between two vastly different ecosystems. As such, they are teeming with a variety of fascinating life. Whether you're a tourist on vacation or a local resident on a day trip, keep this tabbed booklet close at hand. Written by expert naturalist Stephanie Panlasigui, it features more than 100 of the most common and important animals and plants to know--from birds and fish to crabs, sharks, and more! Plus, the booklet includes other beachcombing finds--like seashells and sea glass--as well as a quick guide to tidepools.

The handy booklet is applicable to the coastlines of California, Oregon, and Washington. It is organized by group for quick and easy identification, and it offers the at-a-glance information that you want to know. The pocket-size format is much easier to use than laminated foldouts, and the tear-resistant pages help to make the spiraled guide durable in the field. As an added bonus, it includes information about helping coastal life thrive in this essential habitat.

Book Features:

• Pocket-size format--easier than laminated foldouts


• Professional photos of each species


• Entries organized by group to ensure that you quickly find what you're looking for


• Easy-to-use information for even casual observers


• Details about beach anatomy, how beaches are formed, and beach safety

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the site of some of the most significant moments in the nation's history. This book provides for the first time a comprehensive story of the effort to save and protect its waters and living resources for future generations. Andrew Ramey describes the enormous task-engaging the states in the Bay's watershed and the federal government since 1983-to realize one of the largest, most complex, and most expensive ecosystem restoration projects ever undertaken. He also unfolds a dramatic political narrative, tracing the momentous changes in American environmental politics from the green heyday of the 1960s and 1970s to the environmental movement's collision with the Reagan administration in the 1980s and the movement's ultimate triumph over the anti-environmental backlash of the 1990s and early 2000s. Along the way, he clarifies assumptions about the environmental movement, the major parties' roles in it, and our society's efforts to forge sustainable relationships with the natural world. Saving the Chesapeake Bay reveals how a campaign to rescue this crucial resource altered the course of American environmentalism.

The Acclaimed International Bestseller

It is impossible to do justice to the beauty of Returning Light. The whole book is a poem. -- New York Times Book Review

By the lighthouse keeper on the remote, otherworldly Irish island of Skellig Michael, a profound memoir about the importance of place and what it really means to belong (Belfast Telegraph)

On Skellig Michael, thousands of birds appear and disappear, erecting towers, coming together in wings of movement which build and unravel over the empty sea. Often, no one else is there to stand beside me on the island. The mind wanders; links with the past are easily made; ancient ways of viewing things come alive.

In 1987, Robert Harris happened upon an unusual job posting in the local paper--a new warden service was being set up on the island of Skellig Michael, and the deadline was imminent. Just weeks later he was on his way to set up camp in one of Ireland's most remote locations, unaware that he would be making that same journey every May for the next 30 years.

Here he transports us to the otherworldly island, a place that is teeming with natural life, including curious puffins that like to visit his hut. From the precipice he has observed a coastline that is relatively unchanged for the last thousand years--a beacon of equilibrium in an ever-changing world.

But the island can be fierce too. It's inhabitable for only five months of the year, and solitude can quickly become isolation as bad weather rolls in to create a veil between Skellig Michael and the rest of the world, when the dizzying terrain can become a very real threat to life.

A beautiful and evocative work of nature writing, Returning Light is an extraordinary memoir about the profound effect a place can have on us, and how a remote location can bring with it a great sense of belonging.

A guide to the ecosystem famously known as Los Angeles, from a field biologist and longtime San Gabriel Valley resident.

A worthy and illuminating entry in the tradition of works exploring urbanization's effect on the environment. --Los Angeles Times

Within the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles and its suburbs, residents coexist--often unknowingly--with a bustling mosaic of native and introduced wildlife. Conservationist Craig Stanford, whose research has taken him around the world, now takes a deep dive into the natural history of his Southern California home. Stanford's informed and vivid accounts of more than 150 species entreat us to appreciate the ecological marvels of sagebrush and skunks and skippers, the iconic palms of LA lore, and the mountain lions still roaming the hills.

These portraits of the glamorous, humble, irritating, and altogether fascinating species that live alongside Angelenos urge us to recognize that even in a jungle of concrete, we live within nature. Witty and captivating, and combining cutting-edge research with his own critter encounters, Stanford demonstrates the beauty of shaping our cities to support biodiversity, and he warns against the threats that can tip urban ecosystems out of balance, leaving us in a much lonelier world.

Having lived on Cumberland Island for more than forty years, Carol Ruckdeschel's goal has been to document present conditions of the island's flora and fauna, establishing a baseline from which to assess future changes. Since the late 1960s, she has witnessed many changes and trends that are often overlooked by those carrying out short-term observations. This compilation of data, along with historic information, presents the most comprehensive picture of the island's flora, fauna, geology, and ecology to date. This volume will satisfy a general interest in the ecology of Cumberland and other Georgia barrier islands. New information on individual species is presented, contributing to its value as a reference for the Southeast.

The Chasing the Tide book is a deep dive into the wildlife and conservation stories showcased in the six-part series. The book is filled with stunning imagery, illustrations, and hand-drawn maps that help tell the Texas Gulf Coast's human and natural history. Part adventure chronicle and part photographic journal, Chasing the Tide offers a personal and on-the-ground report of this epic 21-day trek across Texas' seven barrier islands.

By century's end, hundreds of millions of people will be retreating from the world's shores as our coasts become inundated and our landscapes transformed. From island nations to the world's major cities, coastal regions will disappear. Engineering projects to hold back the water are bold and may buy some time. Yet despite international efforts and tireless research, there is no permanent solution-no barriers to erect or walls to build-that will protect us in the end from the drowning of the world as we know it.

The Water Will Come is the definitive account of the coming water, why and how this will happen, and what it will all mean. As he travels across twelve countries and reports from the front lines, acclaimed journalist Jeff Goodell employs fact, science, and first-person, on-the-ground journalism to show vivid scenes from what already is becoming a water world.

An immersive, mildly gonzo and depressingly well-timed book about the drenching effects of global warming, and a powerful reminder that we can bury our heads in the sand about climate change for only so long before the sand itself disappears. (Jennifer Senior, New York Times)

The Outer Banks of North Carolina and the beaches of the Mid-Atlantic Coast are among the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. This book is a richly illustrated field guide that surveys the geology, environmental history, natural history, and human history of a region that spans the eastern seaboard, from Sandy Hook in New Jersey south to Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

It is organized around environments, not particular locations. Included are the geology of beaches and barrier islands and the environmental history of the region as well as detailed looks at the natural history of beaches, dunes, maritime forests, coastal marshes, and estuaries. Also covered are issues involving human activity and climate change, which have become dominant forces shaping geophysical and biological environments.

This guide will enable users to walk into a salt marsh or onto a beach and identify much of what they see.

Long Island Sound consists of a diverse collection of unique marine, estuarine, and terrestrial ecosystems located in one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. The Sound and its coastlines are home not only to myriad species of plants and animals--from shorebirds and turtles to whales, seals, and fish--but also to more than twenty million people.

Until now there has been no one-stop reference for those interested in exploring the Sound's rich natural history. Author, photographer, and scientific illustrator Patrick Lynch has filled this gap. Brimming with maps, photographs, and drawings, Lynch's guide introduces readers to the full breadth of the Sound's environs from shorelines to deepest waters. With coastal areas at particular risk from climate change and pollution, his timing couldn't be better. Whether readers are interested in the area's geology and meteorology, its history of human intervention, or simply locating nature reserves and bird sanctuaries, they're sure to find Lynch's compendium indispensable.

Weaving together Robert Finch's collected writings from over fifty years and a thousand miles of walking along Cape Cod's Atlantic coast, The Outer Beach is a poignant, candid chronicle of an iconic American landscape anyone with an appreciation for nature will cherish.

In compelling dispatches from the edge of the continent, Byers explores topics ranging from butterflies to scrub jays, from salmon to whales. He describes the natural history, ecology, and evolution of key species and ecosystems in scientifically sound but accessible language, and notes that despite all we know, fascinating ecological mysteries still abound. Byers also surveys ecocentric philosophies and worldviews rooted in these places and argues for their importance in developing a more harmonious and sustainable relationship between humans and our home planet.

UNESCO biosphere reserves are laboratories for understanding how humans affect ecosystems and models for how we can heal the human-nature relationship. While the biosphere concept and network has existed for fifty years now, it is still not well-known by the general public. Today, the US has twenty-eight biosphere reserves. By focusing on two beloved sites in California, Byers draws attention to the important work being done in these reserves around the world, with the goal of inspiring readers to reflection, action, and hope in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental challenges.

The World of the Salt Marsh is a wide-ranging exploration of the southeastern coast--its natural history, its people and their way of life, and the historic and ongoing threats to its ecological survival.

Focusing on areas from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, Charles Seabrook examines the ecological importance of the salt marsh, calling it a biological factory without equal. Twice-daily tides carry in a supply of nutrients that nourish vast meadows of spartina (Spartina alterniflora)--a crucial habitat for creatures ranging from tiny marine invertebrates to wading birds. The meadows provide vital nurseries for 80 percent of the seafood species, including oysters, crabs, shrimp, and a variety of finfish, and they are invaluable for storm protection, erosion prevention, and pollution filtration.

Seabrook is also concerned with the plight of the people who make their living from the coast's bounty and who carry on its unique culture. Among them are Charlie Phillips, a fishmonger whose livelihood is threatened by development in McIntosh County, Georgia, and Vera Manigault of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a basket maker of Gullah-Geechee descent, who says that the sweetgrass needed to make her culturally significant wares is becoming scarcer.

For all of the biodiversity and cultural history of the salt marshes, many still view them as vast wastelands to be drained, diked, or improved for development into highways and subdivisions. If people can better understand and appreciate these ecosystems, Seabrook contends, they are more likely to join the growing chorus of scientists, conservationists, fishermen, and coastal visitors and residents calling for protection of these truly amazing places.

The Earth is a book and, with the proper tools, we can read it.

-- Thomas E. Cochrane, CA Professional Geologist

For the curious, here's a compelling examination of the complex processes involved inside our planet which

began eons ago. With an introduction to Deep Time and the Geologic Time Clock, geologist Thomas

Cochrane provides a detailed yet approachable overview for the layperson of how and why the Sonoma-

Mendocino region's coastline appears as it does today--with all its fascinating oddities.

EXPLORE:

• The San Andreas Fault and its dynamic--plus continuing--role in shifting both land and sea
• Unusual features including sink holes, sag ponds, submarine canyons & underground streams
• The role of glaciations in causing the development of coastal marine terraces
• Meet the area's geologic superstars: Bowling Ball Beach, Devil's Punchbowl, Witches' Cauldron, sea stacks, gargoyles, blowholes, sea caves, the 8000' Black Point Spilite and more
• Features nearly 50 diagrams, maps, and striking photos
• Includes an overview of human impact and climate change on the regional land and ocean

The ideal primer for those interested in the often mysterious interplay of water, wind, earthquakes,

and other geologic events, processes, and stressors at work in the natural world.

Then EXPERIENCE this geology firsthand...on a Pacific Coast Highway road trip

The 85-mile Road Log provides precise instructions for a self-drive geological tour

from Bodega Bay at Sonoma County's southern tip to the tiny hamlet of Elk in Mendocino County

(utilizing highway mile markers)--includes MUST-SEE features as well as suggestions

for best hikes, picnic spots, public access beaches, campgrounds, side trips inland,

and more...

Sonoma Land Trust has long known the Sonoma Coast as a special place to be protected.
With his expertise, sense of curiosity, and investigation, the author came to know this place in-depth and has shared with us its story. It is a true gem to have this resource as a guide to understanding the forces that have shaped the land as we now see it. And the Road Log is an invaluable asset to our knowledge of the coast.

-- Dave Koehler, Executive Director, Sonoma Land Trust

California Professional Geologist and former teacher Thomas E. Cochrane has been a resident of The Sea Ranch (Sonoma County) for nearly 30 years. He's consulted on geologic hazards and geology along this pristine stretch of Northern California's coast and has doggedly documented all aspects of the Road Log firsthand.