A Sea Full of Turtles

The Search for Optimism in an Epoch of Extinction

Bill Streever

An inspired and impassioned story of adventure that explores the richness of marine life and charts a path of resilience and hope.

Everyone alive today is witnessing a mass extinction event caused by the more than eight billion humans who share this planet. At times, it seems there is little hope. Climate change, resource exploitation, agrochemicals, overfishing, plastics, dead zones in our oceans, drought and desertification, conversion of habitat to housing, farming, and industrial infrastructure—the list of impacts and insults goes on and on. We are, it seems, on an unalterable path that will continue to decimate biodiversity.

A feeling of hopelessness, while not unwarranted, is part of the problem. Without hope, without some belief in the possibility of positive outcomes, the fight for nature is over. Why even try if the battle is already lost?

While staring the problems squarely in the face, A Sea Full of Turtles offers hope for those who care about our living world. Delivered as a travel narrative set in Mexico’s Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), at one level the book focuses on dramatically underfunded but highly successful efforts to protect sea turtles. But the book goes beyond Mexico and beyond sea turtles to look at how some humans have changed their relationship with nature—and how that change can one day end the extinction crisis.

Enchanting, galvanizing, and brimming with joy and wonder, A Sea Full of Turtles will inspire immediate action to face the great challenges that lie ahead. Pessimism is the lazy way out. Optimism, it turns out, is both a reasonable and an essential attitude for us all as we fight for the beautiful diversity of life on our Earth.

Bill Streever is the bestselling and award-winning author of And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind, Cold (a New York Times notable book), and Heat. As a biologist, he has worked on issues ranging from climate change to the restoration of Arctic tundra to underwater noise to the evolution of cave crayfish. With his wife and co-captain, he splits his time between Alaska and their cruising sailboat, currently in Central America.

Buy it now in print:

Buy it now in ebook:

Endorsements & Reviews

"The topic of loss and extinction has been covered extensively in recent years, but Streever has approached it freshly, with optimism as well as realism, and with his own brand of personal story and humor. His curious and enthusiastic dives into the biology and history of sea turtles, along with his direct experience along Mexican shores, will carry readers into the same engagement.” The Anchorage Daily News

"Aquatic ecologist Streever is an optimist, or in his words, he wants to live with hope. As Streever writes of evolution and turtle biology within a travel narrative, he speaks of how humans have accelerated the rate of climate change and global extinction, but also of how individuals are striving to change humanity's relationship with the planet and its animals." Booklist

"In this stimulating report, Streever recounts traveling around Mexico’s Gulf of California to interview the fishers, nonprofit directors, scientists, and volunteers who are working to protect endangered sea turtles. The profiles of individuals leading conservation efforts offer reason for hope even as they make clear the direness of the sea turtle’s situation. Animal lovers will be galvanized." Publishers Weekly

“An aquatic ecologist recounts his search for reasons for optimism in the face of looming extinction crises. Streever zeroes in on the fate of sea turtles, but his larger concern is existential. If we conceive of the history of life on Earth as a 24-hour day, he writes, humans’ attention to the conservation of our fellow species has only arisen 'a mere few seconds before midnight.' Sea turtles and other 'charismatic endangered species' can serve to 'draw our attention, help us change our ways.' A hopeful consideration of the beauty and fate of wild sea turtles—and the natural world as a whole.” Kirkus Reviews

“In this lovingly-crafted book, Bill Streever both builds a case for optimism for the future and takes us on a grand adventure in the boat wake of Steinbeck and Ricketts. As much about the animals as our own decisions, Sea Full of Turtles is a rare kind of honest reflection that shows us what survival can look like when we start to pay attention.” Juli Berwald, author of Spineless and Life on the Rocks

“If you care about the plight of sea turtles and other marine life—and we all ought to—you will be moved by this heartfelt, intimate account. With a curious eye and a gift for prose, biologist Bill Streever weaves together strands of biology, history, and anthropology in a way that only one who spends large portions of his life on and in the ocean can do.” Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows and Super Fly