In warm, shallow waters around the world, coral reefs teem with tens of thousands of marine species. Reefs rival rain forests in biodiversity, and about a third of the world’s marine fish species live part of their lives on coral reefs.In the 1960s, marine biologist Henry “Hank” Compton (1928–2005) of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Rockport Marine Lab participated in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean research cruises on which some of these fishes were collected. A talente...

In this thrilling new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton’s The Gunfighter series, a man wakeswith no memory of who he is—or why someone wants him dead.A gunman without a gun wakes up in Death Valley. He has no recollection of how he got there or even his ownname. He’s a dead man walking until his luck turns. He stumbles upon the homestead of a widow and her young sonwho nurse him back to health.In the desert good deeds come at a cost. The a...

In this thrilling new installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series, Toby Bishop and thedrovers of the Circle K ranch will have to battle the elements, wild animals, rough terrain, and dangerouspeople to get their longhorn herd to their destination.The drovers of Circle K ranch have to drive the herd of beautiful longhorn cattle five hundred miles northwestto Missouri if they hope to make it through the next year. Toby Bishop, a jack-of-all-trade...

The cold, stygian dark of the extreme sea depths is home to some of our planet’s strangest creatures. Even their names evoke a science fiction adventure: dragonfishes, greeneyes, viperfishes, mirrorbellies, lanternfishes. Marine biologist Henry “Hank” Compton (1928–2005) of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Rockport Marine Lab was present on some of the earliest Gulf of Mexico cruises on which these fishes were collected for the first time in Texas waters.Upon returning, Co...

A cattle drive faces long odds in this exciting new installment in Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series.An outbreak of hostilities with Comanches has disrupted the usual trail routes. But Mase Durst must get his cows from his Texas ranch to the railway up in Wichita, Kansas, or face losing his land, which the bank is fixing to foreclose on. He's forced to take his herd on a little-used route called the Red Trail—little used for good reasons. It’s a tough trek: dangerous, narrow, and ...

A farmer is pulled into the world of outlaws when his estranged brother turns up dead in this new RalphCompton Western.Brothers Clay and Cal Breckenridge, sons of a hardscrabble East Texas farmer, never did see eye to eye. Clay, theeldest, returned home after the Civil War to help his father run the family farm; Cal deserted his military post anddisappeared into a new life with a new name. Everyone knew who was the good son and who was the bad.Clay had ...

This Periplus Nature Guide provides an excellent introduction to 68 of the most commonly encountered tropical reef fishes. Written by Dr. Gerald Allen, international authority on reef fishes, it features stunning color shots by some of the world's best underwater photographers.

**INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS & EDITORS Book Award, Finalist 2014"Greenberg’s breezy, engaging style weaves history, politics, environmental policy, and marine biology." --New Yorker**From the acclaimed author of Four Fish and The Omega Principle, Paul Greenberg uncovers the tragic unraveling of the nation’s seafood supply—telling the surprising story of why Americans stopped eating from their own waters in American Catch...

Salmon: A Scientific Memoir investigates a narrative that is important to the identity of the Pacific Northwest Coast – the salmon as an iconic species. Traditionally it’s been a narrative that is overwhelmingly about conflict. But is that always necessarily the case?The story follows John Steinbeck’s advice: the best way to achieve reality is to combine narrative with scientific data. By following ecologists, archaeologists and fisheries biologists studying salmon, humans...

Marine biologist Pete Klimley swims with the sharks. He was one of the first scientists to free-dive among sharks, and he has spent nearly thirty years studying shark behavior, sometimes swimming in schools of several hundred sharks. From his firsthand observations he has learned that sharks are not the vicious man-eaters that we imagine, but fascinating animals with complex behaviors.Most people who think of sharks at all think immediately of great white sharks. B...

A salty story of friendship, adventure, and the explosive life that teems beneath the oceanThe Lofoten archipelago, just North of the Arctic Circle, is a place of unsurpassed beauty—the skyline spikes with dramatic peaks; the radiant greens and purples of the Northern Lights follow summers where the sun never sets. It’s a place of small villages, where the art of fishing, though evolving, is still practiced in traditional ways.Beneath the great dep...

Picture books featuring wild animals help develop a child's imagination in a plethora of meaningful ways. First, the shapes and colors featured in the books will spark the child's creative spirit and potentially generate a desire to draw similar figures. Second, the picture books featuring wild creatures will likely spark questions regarding the personal preferences and proclivities of the animals. Once these questions formulate in the child's mind, she or he will likely begin to extrapola...