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    Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter
    Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter
    Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter
    Ebook197 pages4 hours

    Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter

    By Ellen Prager

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    When viewed from a quiet beach, the ocean, with its rolling waves and vast expanse, can seem calm, even serene. But hidden beneath the sea’s waves are a staggering abundance and variety of active creatures, engaged in the never-ending struggles of life—to reproduce, to eat, and to avoid being eaten.

    With Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime, marine scientist Ellen Prager takes us deep into the sea to introduce an astonishing cast of fascinating and bizarre creatures that make the salty depths their home. From the tiny but voracious arrow worms whose rapacious ways may lead to death by overeating, to the lobsters that battle rivals or seduce mates with their urine, to the sea’s masters of disguise, the octopuses, Prager not only brings to life the ocean’s strange creatures, but also reveals the ways they interact as predators, prey, or potential mates. And while these animals make for some jaw-dropping stories—witness the sea cucumber, which ejects its own intestines to confuse predators, or the hagfish that ties itself into a knot to keep from suffocating in its own slime—there’s far more to Prager’s account than her ever-entertaining anecdotes: again and again, she illustrates the crucial connections between life in the ocean and humankind, in everything from our food supply to our economy, and in drug discovery, biomedical research, and popular culture.

    Written with a diver’s love of the ocean, a novelist’s skill at storytelling, and a scientist’s deep knowledge, Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime enchants as it educates, enthralling us with the wealth of life in the sea—and reminding us of the need to protect it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
    Release dateNov 22, 2011
    ISBN9780226678733
    Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter

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    Reviews for Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime

    3.5/5

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    • 3/5
      I first had a bit of difficulty getting into the book because though it was not a large volume the typography was jammed in to the point that for me it made reading it a big tedious. Once I got into it I found it do be interesting and fascinating in many ways. The diversity and unusual things found in the oceans is pretty amazing. The conclusion delves into the ecological perils that we have created in our consumer oriented world that puts the balance of life in some jeopardy. It is easy to dismiss this as the typical sky if falling ecology movement but it is hard to not be concerned about consequences should things get out of hand. Altogether a well researched and written book.
    • 4/5
      This was a fun and informative book, some of the humor to me felt a bit flat, like the author was trying to hard to be clever, but it was clear how much she enjoys her subject and that comes through clearly.Each chapter is broken down into groups of animals and gives a lot of details into their lives without feeling bogged down and each chapter ends with a look at how these creatures benefit our world and our lives, it's a shame we need to be given reasons to want to protect these species and the environment they live in but I thought this was a very effective and unpreachy way to do so. My only complaint is a consistent one for me, I would have liked more photos, though the ones included were excellent. I understand the cost of color photography makes it prohibitive to have more, but I really wanted to see more of the amazing animals she was describing.

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