What The Wild Sea Can Be

The Future of the World's Ocean

Helen Scales

No matter where we live, 'we are all ocean people,' Helen Scales observes in her bracing yet hopeful exploration of the future of the ocean. Beginning with its fascinating deep history, Scales links past to present to show how prehistoric ocean ecology holds lessons for the ocean of today.

In elegant, evocative prose, she takes us into the realms of animals that epitomize current increasingly challenging conditions, from emperor penguins to sharks and orcas. Yet despite these threats, many hopeful signs remain, in the form of highly protected reserves, the regeneration of seagrass meadows and giant kelp forests, and efforts to protect coral reefs.

Offering innovative ideas for protecting coastlines and cleaning the toxic seas, Scales insists we need more ethical and sustainable fisheries and must prevent the other existential threat of deep-sea mining. Inspiring us all to maintain a sense of awe and wonder at the majesty beneath the waves, she urges us to fight for the better future that still exists for the ocean.

First published:: 06/06/2024
Published by:: Atlantic Books, Grove Press UK
Length:: Hardcover 320 pages

See more from the 2024 prize year

What the judges said
"Passionate and important, it lays out what is at stake if we don’t protect our seas. As Scales writes: Living together on this blue planet, we are all ocean people”

About the author

Dr Helen Scales is a marine biologist, acclaimed author and broadcaster who explores the wonders and plight of the oceans and the living planet. Her books, including The Brilliant Abyss and Spirals in Time, have been adapted for stage and screen, and translated into 15 languages. She writes for National Geographic Magazine and the Guardian, teaches at Cambridge University and is a storytelling ambassador for the Save Our Seas Foundation. Helen divides her time between Cambridge, England, and the wild Atlantic coast of France.