Eye of the Shoal
A Fishwatcher’s Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything
Wild fish hover in seas, rivers and lakes, out of sight and out of mind. But from the very first time Helen Scales immersed herself into their liquid world, she realized that fish are beautiful, mesmerizing, complex and exciting. The moment she sank down to eyeball a wild trout–the fish poised in front of her, expertly occupying the three-dimensional space in a way that she could only dream of imitating–sparked the ichthyologist within and set in motion years of study and exploration in the fishes’ unseen domain as she became a devoted fish-watcher.
In the new paperback edition of Eye of the Shoal, Scales shares the secrets of fish, unhitching them from their reputation as cold, unknowable beasts and reinventing them as clever, emotional, singing, thoughtful creatures, and challenging readers to rethink these animals. She takes readers on an underwater journey to watch these creatures going about the hidden but glorious business of being a fish. Their way of life is radically different from our own, in part because they inhabit a buoyant, sticky fluid in which light, heat, gases and sound behave in odd ways. They’ve evolved many tactics to overcome these challenges; to become mega-stars of the aquatic world. In doing so, these extraordinary animals tell us so much about the oceans and life itself. Our relationship with these scaly creatures goes much deeper than predator versus prey—fish leave a significant mark on the human world!
Spanning a variety of disciplines including ecology, neuroscience, palaeontology and history, Eye of the Shoal brings to life everything we know about fish. A rich and entertaining read, this book will inspire readers to think again about these animals, and the seas, and to go out and appreciate the wildness and wonders of fish, whether through the glass walls of an aquarium or, better still, by gazing into the fishes’ wild world and swimming through it.
Helen Scales is a marine biologist, diver, surfer, broadcaster and writer who’s spent hundreds of hours underwater watching fish. A familiar voice for the oceans, she’s pondered the mysteries of the deep sea with Robin Ince and Brian Cox on BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage and donated an imaginary tank of seahorses to The Museum of Curiosity. She’s a regular writer for BBC Focus and BBC Wildlife magazines. Among her radio documentaries, she’s explored the dream of living underwater and followed the trail of endangered snails around the world and back again.
Helen’s previous book, Spirals in Time, is a national bestseller. It was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology book prize, picked as a book of the year by The Economist, Nature, The Times and the Guardian, and was BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week. For more information, visit her online atwww.helenscales.com.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media