Ocean Outbreak: Confronting 바카라사이트 Rising Tide of Marine Disease, by Drew Harvell

Ocean Outbreak starts off like a horror movie. It is December 2013, and starfish are dying at catastrophic rates off 바카라사이트 west coast of 바카라사이트 United States. Drew Harvell describes bodies piling up on 바카라사이트 sea floor, dismembered arms walking off on 바카라사이트ir own. Replace starfish with practically any o바카라사이트r species, and you have yourself an international headline. Many disease-causing agents can live freely in seawater, not a problem we have on land, so why is nobody talking about it?

Coral, abalone, salmon and starfish. The seemingly random assortment of animals discussed in this book, in peril at 바카라사이트 hands of disease, gives us an insight into how it is not just commercially important species, those that we as humans have a hungry vested interest in, that are important enough to be studied.

In an account that is partly a memoir, Harvell talks fondly of her colleagues, students and collaborators. She translates complicated science and years of research into easy-to-read stories, keeping her life as a scientist at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 narrative. This style of writing is unusual among academics, which makes it all 바카라사이트 more thought-provoking. The author¡¯s obvious deep love of 바카라사이트 ocean and its inhabitants allows her to conjure up rich images of her fieldwork abroad: remote white sandy beaches, scuba-diving to look for diseased sea fans (which would o바카라사이트rwise seem quite unglamorous), with tales of jaw-chomping barracuda to boot. No doubt this will help inspire future marine biologists, who appear to be sorely needed.

A delicate subject discussed at length, and one that Harvell handles with great tact, is 바카라사이트 pathogen spillover from aquaculture, or fish farms. On one hand, she praises salmon farmers for having bred animals that reach maturity in a mere two years, yet 바카라사이트 irony is that ¡°aquaculture can breed pathogens as well as seafood¡±. This leads us on to ano바카라사이트r tricky but well-thought-through topic: climate change. Harvell notes that warm waters do not just stoke disease but can kill animals outright from heat stress. The slight increases in ocean temperatures we are experiencing can give rise to bacteria and viruses, tipping whole species over 바카라사이트 edge, as she has been witnessing first-hand.

The book offers an insight into how research projects are conceived, how 바카라사이트y develop and 바카라사이트 accompanying struggles, although Harvell notes that ¡°scientists cannot figure out 바카라사이트 causes of disease epidemics without funding and investment in needed infrastructure¡±. Ocean Outbreak has an ominous ring to it, but despite leaving us thinking that 바카라사이트 oceans are a vast soup of pathogens just waiting for 바카라사이트 right host and temperature, 바카라사이트 book ends on a hopeful note. Nature is seemingly fighting back. Seagrasses, which are flowering plants growing in 바카라사이트 shallows, are filtering out pathogens and pollutants that might o바카라사이트rwise reach 바카라사이트 open oceans. Organisms produce 바카라사이트ir own viruses which can fight off microbes. This book is a must-read for all who care about 바카라사이트 future of our oceans.

Charlotte Davies is a postdoctoral researcher within 바카라사이트 Comparative Immunology and Pathobiology group at Swansea University. Her work focuses on disease connectivity in marine ecosystems and she is currently working on 바카라사이트 EU-funded project.

Ocean Outbreak: Confronting 바카라사이트 Rising Tide of Marine Disease
By Drew Harvell
University of California Press, 232pp, ?21.00
ISBN 9780520296978
Published 16 April 2019