Carl SafinaEye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival

I gave this to my grandma as a gift and she would not stop talking about how much she loved reading it. If you or a loved one loves a good book about life near the south pole, I highly recommend this book.

The book itself is in perfect condition, it looks brand new. There is minimal wear to the cover, but it is also in great condition. Very well taken care of, and I am excited to dive into this amazing book!

I enjoyed reading about the albatrosses and other wild life that breed in the northwest islands of Hawaii. The on-going study of these animals and the history of their exploitation and the recent efforts to undo the damage to their species make a compelling story, well told.I have two reservations. In some earlier passages in the book he imputes to the birds rather human higher mental processes like planning. I found this not only unconvincing but it began, for me, to call into question his seriousness. (Later in the book he toned this down.) The other reservation I have is the unnecessary sermonizing that punctuates his narratives. I think he can trust his readers to have internalized the implications of what he writes of the shameful exploitation of the albatrosses and other animals.

Carl Safina is a very talented writer. He takes unusual nature topics and creates really interesting true “stories”. However his books frequently digress to only marginally related topics (he spent a couple of days with a commercial fisherman), and therefore become overly long. Where he really falls apart though, is his need to beat the reader to death with the gruesome facts regarding the mistreatment of wildlife by human beings. There is a fine line between making people aware, and making them skip chapters. Jane Goodall knows this, as does Sy Montgomery.

I read and listened to this book a few months before a trip to the Falkland Islands where we hope to see albatrosses. I wanted to learn more about the remarkable bird. This book doesn’t disappoint. Mr. Safina has woven together the intimate story of one albatross family with colorful detail of the other beasts, including humans, that intersect with it. A great book for bird lovers, naturalists, and travelers.

Fun read. Nice writing. He didn't quote way too much like he usually does. That was nice. This time he travels to the northwestern Hawaiian islands to talk to people about albatrosses, monk seals, and tiger sharks. He also goes up to Alaska to do some long-lining for sablefish. Includes some lovely maps, black-and-white photos here and there, selected references, and an index. Probably my favorite book of his (alongside Voyage of the Turtle). He did say one dumb thing I must point out. He stated that "everyone in Europe believed" that Columbus was going to "fall off the edge of the world" during his first voyage. That's a myth he must've learned in grade school. They disagreed on the circumference of the Earth, not whether the darn thing was flat.

Brilliant, poignant and often painful. A must read! Beautifully written tale of the various species of albatross, whose survival is increasingly vulnerable to modern conditions and the willingness of homo sapiens (so-called) to change their behavior so that others may live. The story is one of struggle, hope, the power of sheer persistence and of life's resilience under increasingly bleak conditions. More generally, the book is an overview of the devastation of the ocean environment. "Eye of the Albatross" was the well-deserving winner of the 1993 John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural hitory writing.Safina's latest piece of natural history brilliance is "Voyage of the Turtle: In pursuit of the Earth's Last Dinosaur" (2006). Safina is president of Blue Ocean Institute, which he co-founded in 2003, so he's putting his prodigious talent to work to make the world a better place.By Kyle Gardner, author of  Medicine Rock Reflections

i loved the focus on the scientific data, the tracking of these birds is something science has only been able to do recently. he did go off on fishing tangents but those were intimately related to the lives of these birds. he did get poetic but that was only a small portion of this book and it was really good. i wanted a "natural history" and i wanted "facts not feelings". i got it, it is a tremendous book. and i love the birds, i saw one in california once and i saw many in the western central pacific, hundreds of miles from land. i was dumb struck, howling wind and crashing waves and there they were. now i understand just a bit of how grand and glorious they are.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend and was a bit doubtful at first because it is not my usual kind of reading. However, I was completely won over by the way Carfl Safin combines a narrative about his research into the albatross with the the facts about this amazing bird. I just wish I could write as tenth as well as he does.

Of my dozens of nature books, this is one of the very best. An great look at the amazing albatross and their abilities, remaining in flight for years over thousands of trackless ocean miles, yet able to navigate home to their mate & nest when raising young. A book worthy of this remarkable bird.

sarebbe bellissimo se l'avesse fatta un po' piu'corta anziche' dettagliare ogni singolo attacvo,.. che poi, chi ci crede che non siano romanzati? Pero' essenzialmene bello,lettura consiglista!

Visión del mundo marino, y de sus aves