Kraken: Up Close and Very Personal With the Giant Squid
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February 28, 2011: Few animals provoke the imagination and wonder of the sea like the squid. The giant squid is thought to have been the basis of the myriad of sea monster tales that have been spun over the centuries. And while we now know more about these animals than ever before, there’s still an incredible amount of mystery remaining to be unveiled. The book is ?Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid? and its author and our guest today, Wendy Williams, award-winning writer and journalist. Also: First of a two-part look at a newly-issued report by World Resources Institute, ?Reefs at Risk Revisited? a report that history may well show is the most important report about the oceans to be released this century. It’s more than a wakeup call – it’s truly our last call to take action to save coral reefs.
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Kraken: Up Close and Very Personal With the Giant Squid
Our Guest: Wendy Williams, author of “Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid”
Few animals provoke the imagination and wonder of the sea like the squid. The giant squid is thought to have been the basis of the myriad of sea monster tales that have been spun over the centuries. And while we now know so much more about these animals than ever before, there’s still an incredible amount of mystery remaining to be unveiled.
The book is “Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid” and its author and our guest today, Wendy Williams. She is a writer and journalist based in Cape Cod and has authored several books including “Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future” which was named one of 2007’s 10 best environmental books by Booklist and one of the year’s best science books by Library Journal. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Science, the Wall Street Journal among many others and she has won a number of awards for her investigative reporting.
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Also: Reefs at Risk Revisited (Part 1 of 2)
Eleven years ago, the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a landmark report entitled, “Reefs at Risk” which put its finger on the pulse of the world’s coral reefs. It was an enlightening but stark portrait of coral reefs around the world. Enlightening because it shed light on how important these ecosystems are but stark in giving us a clear picture of the threats and what we needed to do about it. Last week at the National Press Club here in Washington, WRI released ?Reefs at Risk Revisited,? updating and expanding its analysis of more than a decade ago. Things have gotten worse — much worse in most places around the world. And the forecast is bleak, but certainly not hopeless. If ever there was a call to action, Reefs at Risk Revisted is it — if we want coral reefs on this planet.
The report was introduced by a panel including WRI president Jonathan Lash, WRI senior associate and report lead author, Lauretta Burke, Dr. Jane Lubchenko, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, and Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at Smithsonian.
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