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And now some great news for Magellanic penguins

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…

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The Whaling Industry Propped up by Japan (The US isn’t exactly innocent either)

From The New York Times: Most Japanese consumers have turned away from whale meat. The industry shipped just 5,000 tons in 2011, compared with 233,000 tons at the peak in 1962, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Demand this year is so low that the industry has cut its planned…

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The United States vs. The Sea Shepherd Society

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…

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I propose a new book category: Eco-fiction

As I’ve written about previously, categorizing The Tourist Trail has been no simple task. Although there are surprises, suspense, and plenty of action, I would not categorize the book as a “thriller” or “action & adventure” novel. But I also don’t feel that the book fits comfortably in the “literary fiction” category. After all, literary…

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Climate change, not tourism, is hurting chinstrap penguins

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…