There is a stretch of land along the southernmost coast of the Southern Island of New Zealand known as Curio Bay. I visited about five years ago in search of the Hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin (seen above). And here, at long last, is a story that emerged from that visit, published in Kelp Journal. Thanks…
I was thrilled to join Lovis Geier on her amazing environmental literature podcast this week. You can check it out here:
At last, it’s ready… on Audible.com.https://adbl.co/2ZINs6j You can listen to a sample here: Ashland Creek Press · Where Oceans Hide Their Dead (sample) Read by yours truly, warts and all. The end result is 8 hours and change long but I lost count of how many hours I spent recording and re-recording these chapters. Partly…
This from a sobering research report published last week by some of the world’s leading experts on penguins. The report notes that “more than half of the world’s 18 penguin species are declining.” The three species most in danger are: African penguin Galápagos penguin Yellow-eyed penguin (seen below in New Zealand) The report notes that…
Let me just that I have newfound respect for those who create audiobooks, because after a month of starts and stops and re-recordings I’m happy to announce the audiobook for The Tourist Trail. It’s available on Audible and comes in at just over 7 hours, which by no means reflects how many hours went into…
The cover of the first edition of The Tourist Trail features a landscape photograph of the Magellanic penguin colony along the shores of Argentina, the precise location where the book begins. It was a photograph I had taken and I thought it would make a nice cover. And it did, but it didn’t make a…
If you enjoyed The Tourist Trail then I’m sure you will love My Last Continent. It’s about a penguin researcher, a shipwreck, and a romance below the Antarctic Circle. Click here to learn more.
The Tourist Trail takes place on the site of the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony and, though the book is fiction, the colony is very much real. It is located on the coast of Punta Tombo, Argentina. And this coastal region has long been heavily fished, which means penguins have for decades been caught up in…
The Adélie penguin has long been viewed as in rapid decline, largely because of the number of shrinking and abandoned penguin colonies around the Antarctic peninsula. But it appears that the penguin may not be declining so much as changing address. According to this WSJ article, the penguin has actually increased in numbers globally: The…
We all know or should know by now that polar bears are suffering from reduced ice up north. But few people know about what’s happening to penguins down south. If you have a spare 10 minutes, listen to this interview with Dee Boersma on her recent study about Magellanic Penguins in Punta Tombo, Argentina. I…
I’m biased, of course. I’m the editor. But I’m also a reader and I’ve consistently been frustrated over the years by the lack of novels and short stories that truly “get” the complex (and often violent) relationships between humans and animals. I’m immensely proud of this book. If you’re a member of the media or…
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…
Down in southern Argentina on the coast of Peninsula Valdez there is a phenomenon that has to be seen to be believed. The orcas have developed a unique way of going after sea lions and elephant seals. The first half of this video may be difficult to watch at times but the second half makes up for it. The park…
Tourism and its impact on endangered species is, not surprisingly, one of the themes of The Tourist Trail. It’s not a simple issue. In the case of the Magellanic penguin colony at Punta Tombo, more than 100,000 tourists now visit the site annually, which can (and sometimes does) overwhelm the birds. But the fact that so…
You should read this travel article about Bahia Bustamante. Bahia Bustamante is a sprawling private ranch south of Punta Tombo, the site of the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony. The article nicely captures the environment and its rich diversity of animal life — armadillos, guanacos and even steamer ducks. Here’s a picture of a pair…