This book is a "scientific compass" in the difficult journey and unknown paths of marine mammal medicine. It gives us the exlusive power to broaden our mind and the courage and confidence to go forward. Thank you.
-- Dr Anastasia Komnenou, Associate Professor of Surgery and Exotic Animals Medicine & Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
If you are involved in marine mammal medicine to any extent, then this is probably going to be something that you will want to have by your side in the laboratory or office, ready for a quick check or for a longer perusal, just depending on your situation. With three very well-known editors, highly experienced in marine mammal medicine, and a wide selection of authors with different specialties for different chapters, this is a book that will be of use to both those deeply involved in marine mammal research and those who are just skirting the periphery.
The range and breadth of experience of the authors is striking, and, very usefully, the 45 chapters are themselves divided into eight sections, with the first six being generalized toward all marine mammals (although subdivided within the chapters themselves), and the final two chapters have a taxon-specific focus. This can be very useful for finding the relevant information and for cross-checking. Although the bulk of the book is text, which is descriptive or instructive depending on the topic, there are also a wealth of summary tables, text boxes to highlight specific issues or terminology, and an excellent selection of full color figures. Without meaning to highlight any chapter in particular, I nevertheless want to note that the illustrations in Chapter 7, ‘‘Gross and Microscopic Anatomy,’’ are particularly impressive.
Most of the chapters are multi-author, and, in my opinion, probably the better for it― there is nothing like having a complementary team, or even other half, to work with to reduce the load, encourage progress, and ensure that pet topics are not given unfair prominence. However, the single-author chapters should not be underestimated. The dentistry chapter, for example, is exemplary in its clarity. I very much doubt I will ever be in the position to assess the oral cavity of a sea mammal but am nevertheless fascinated by the photograph of the sea lion holding its own computed radiography plate while the radiograph is being taken. Although this is another chapter with excellent illustrations, it is the judgment of the level of necessary detail that impresses the most. As this is at a consistent standard throughout the book, I think that this must not only reflect the skill of the editorial team, in both selecting authors and being judicious editors, but also that, as I understand it, each chapter has undergone proper peer review. If only all textbooks were peer reviewed, chapter by chapter, before publication!
What could have been done better? This is a mighty leviathan of a book, and I was initially tempted to suggest that the editors might do well to consider breaking it down into smaller sections. For example, it might be ideal to have some parts that are focused on fieldwork compiled separately into a volume that really is a suitable size to take on trips to the field, another that could be useful for the veterinarian, and another for the laboratory diagnostician. Whichever way you split it, however, you could probably never make anything that is as good a value as this single book―the price is not small, but in terms of pennies per word of wisdom on the subject, it really is a bargain. One of the earlier chapters of the book opens with the sentence ‘‘Marine mammals have always fascinated people with their sheer size and their specialized anatomy and physiology.’’ If Marine Mammal Medicine is your particular ‘‘thing,’’ then you should buy this book. However, this tome is not a handbook, and if not toned down, perhaps the editors might consider calling the next edition an opus.
-- Lucy J. Robertson, Parasittologisk laboratorium, Seksjon for mikrobiologi, immunologi og parasittologi, Institutt for mattrygghet og infeksjonsbiologi, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Oslo, Norway.
Leslie Dierauf, V.M.D. is a retired wildlife veterinarian, having pursued a successful and unique professional career in a variety of venues. Most recently, from 2008-2011, Leslie served in a federal agency capacity, as the senior executive Pacific Northwest Regional Director, and prior to that as the Director of the National Wildlife Health Center for the US Department of the Interior’s US Geological Survey (USGS). Between 1994 and 2004, Leslie worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the Southwestern US, primarily with local communities in NM, AZ, TX and OK, working together to create land, water and development plans while protecting a multitude of threatened and endangered species through habitat conservation plans and the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program.
In 1990, Leslie was honored with a Congressional Science Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science; following that year in Washington, DC, she continued to work for three years as a Science Advisor to the US House of Representatives, primarily on marine and aquatic policy, as well as fish and wildlife conservation. She was instrumental in drafting and then helping pass Title IV of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, placing responsibility on the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for unusual mortality events (UMEs) in marine mammals.
Before joining Federal service, Leslie practiced marine mammal medicine as the California Marine Mammal Center’s Chief of Veterinary Services in Sausalito, CA, and emergency medicine as staff veterinarian for the Marin County Small Animal Emergency Clinic in San Rafael, CA. She has served as the President of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, and co-edited and authored two previous editions of CRC Press’s Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine: Health, Disease and Rehabilitation (1990 and 2001)
Currently Leslie lives in West Seattle, WA (overlooking the Salish Sea), with her husband Jim, and serves on the Boards of SeaLife Response, Rehabilitation and Research (SR3) and the SeaDoc Society, both marine ecosystem health public/private nonprofits.
Frances M. D. Gulland, Vet MB, PhD, MRCVS is a veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. She has been actively involved in the veterinary care and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals and research into marine mammal diseases there since 1994. Her interests include determining the impacts of human activities on marine mammal health, and how marine mammals can in turn serve as indicators of ocean health. She received a veterinary degree from the University of Cambridge, U.K., in 1984, and a PhD in Zoology there in 1991. She currently serves as Commissioner on the U. S. Marine Mammal Commission.
Karyl L. Whitman, Ph.D is a wildlife behavioral ecologist interested in applied ecology and mitigating human effects on wildlife. She received a B.A. in Archaeology and Anthropology from Rutgers University. As a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow, Karyl received her Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota in 2006 under the direction of Dr. Craig Packer. Her research modelled the effects of trophy hunting and developed a new method to non-invasively age African lions that has been instrumental in reforming the hunting industry across several African states. She has studied a variety of East Africa wildlife, however more recently she assists with field research of California sea lions and northern fur seals in California. Karyl serves as a scientific advisor on the African Lion Working Group and to the Serengeti Lion Project. She currently lives in Seattle with her four children and husband, Tom Gelatt, who is the real marine mammal biologist in the family.
