Animal rights

Bycatch is destroying seabird populations — and that includes penguins

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A recent study reported on in the New York Times found that 400,000 seabirds are getting killed each year by gillnets — those long nets used by fishing vessels. And you can add roughly 160,000 additional seabirds that are hooked by longlines. In short, modern fishing practices are destroying the oceans and its creatures. From … Read more

Introducing EcoLit Books

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I wrote awhile back about the emergence of eco-literature. Since then, I’ve seen more publishers awakening to eco-literature, but I’ve long wanted there to be a website that highlighted and reviewed these new titles. So now we have EcoLit Books. EcoLit Books is dedicated to books with environmental and animal rights themes. And it’s devoted to gathering both … Read more

The United States vs. The Sea Shepherd Society

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I can’t say I’m surprised this day would come. When I began writing The Tourist Trail in 2008 I envisioned the FBI going after the leader of a fictional anti-whaling group. At the time, the US was largely neutral about the goings-on in the Southern Ocean. This was a matter between the Sea Shepherd and … Read more

The Half-Skinned Steer

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At Ashland Creek Press, we’re in the early stages of putting together an anthology of short stories that focus on “how the lives of animals and humans intersect, particularly in regards to the conservation and protection of animals.” And so far we’ve been amazed by the quality and number of submissions received. But if there … Read more

Sharks need protection. From humans.

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If you’ve seen the movie Sharkwater then you know that sharks around the world are suffering. Despite the media’s obsession over those rare shark attacks against humans, the reality is that humans are eradicating sharks from the oceans — killing as many as 73 million a year. All because of shark fin soup. So it was nice to … Read more

The more we study whales, the more unique they get

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This is about as close to a humpback whale as I’ve come. In the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula. These are good waters for a whale, rich in food and largely devoid of ships. Whales, for reasons we still don’t understand, are often injured by ships. And as large as whales are, they are no … Read more