How a Sea Captain's Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans
by Capt. Charles Moore, Cassandra Phillips
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2011
368 pages
Genre: Science, Health and the Environment
Publication Information
In the summer of 1997, Charles Moore set sail from Honolulu with the sole intention of returning home after competing in a trans-Pacific race. To get to California, he and his crew took a shortcut through the seldom-traversed North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a vast "oceanic desert" where winds are slack and sailing ships languish. There, Moore realized his catamaran was surrounded by a "plastic soup." He had stumbled upon the largest garbage dump on the planet - a spiral nebula where plastic outweighed zooplankton, the ocean's food base, by a factor of six to one.
In Plastic Ocean, Moore recounts his ominous findings and unveils the secret life and hidden properties of plastics. From milk jugs to polymer molecules small enough to penetrate human skin or be unknowingly inhaled, plastic is now suspected of contributing to a host of ailments including infertility, autism, thyroid dysfunction, and some cancers. A call to action as urgent as Rachel Carson's seminal Silent Spring, Moore's sobering revelations will be embraced by activists, concerned parents, and seafaring enthusiasts concerned about the deadly impact and implications of this man made blight.
"[A] sobering, impassioned book..." - Publishers Weekly
"His account is chilling, but with an underlying message of optimism: If human behaviors change, we can still save the oceans, and ourselves. Fast-paced and electrifying, Moore's story is 'gonzo science' at its best." - Kirkus Reviews
"Important for environmental collections." - Library Journal
"A hero... Moore is the first person to have pursued serious scientific research by sampling the garbage patch." - The New York Times
Visit the Algalita Marine Research Foundation
This information about Plastic Ocean was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Capt. Charles Moore is a researcher and speaker focusing on the environment. He lives in Long Beach, California.
Cassandra Phillips has worked as a newspaper reporter and won substantial grant funding from the USDA Small Business Innovation and Research program to research plastic's effect on orchids. She lives in Kamuela, Hawaii.
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