The Ocean's Whistleblower - by David Grémillet (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"[Daniel Pauly] is an iconoclastic fisheries scientist ... who is so decidedly global in his life and outlook that he is nearly a man without a country."--NEW YORK TIMES

"Daniel Pauly is a friend whose work has inspired me for years."--TED DANSON

Daniel Pauly is a living legend in the world of marine biology. He coined the influential term "shifting baselines," in which knowledge of environmental disaster fades over time, leading to a misguided understanding of our world. He blew the whistle on the global fishing industry, alerting the public to the devastation of overfishing. And he developed data-driven research methods that led to groundbreaking discoveries.

Daniel Pauly is also a man whose life was shaped by struggle. Born after the Second World War to a white French woman and Black American GI in Paris, Pauly's childhood has been described as Dickensian. His father left before he was born and his mother, whose family did not accept her and her mixed-race son, fell prey to a manipulative Swiss couple who abducted Pauly under murky circumstances. He was taken to Switzerland, where he was treated cruelly as the couple's servant.

Pauly escaped to Germany to attend university and, as a young man, travelled to the United States during the 1969 civil rights movement, where he met his father's family and experienced a political and racial reawakening. From there, he went on to have one of the most decorated careers in the field of marine biology. The Ocean's Whistleblower "weaves together the challenges of marine research with an astonishing coming-of-age story" (Andrew Sharpless, Oceana) and is told through interviews with colleagues, friends, and Pauly himself. A brilliant book about a brilliant man, The Ocean's Whistleblower finally profiles one of the most influential scientists of our time.

Review Quotes

"Daniel Pauly may be the most prominent ocean advocate you've never heard of... The Ocean's Whistleblower introduces a visionary scientist to a wider audience, showing that science-based decision making must lead action on climate change, environmental health, and food security."
--Foreword Reviews

"An extraordinary life story full of drama, globetrotting, perseverance, brilliance, and global influence. A page-turner."
--Enric Sala, author of The Nature of Nature and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence

"Daniel [Pauly] is an intellectual and human hero. [His] insights on ocean conservation have changed the world. His life story will change you."
--Ted Danson, actor, ocean activist, and co-author of Oceana

"An amazing story, wonderfully told, part Dickens, part Darwin, part detective thriller. With all its ups and downs and scrapes with death, it would be fascinating as fiction. Astonishingly, it's fact."
--Sam Waterston, actor and activist

"Splendid... As if Oliver Twist fell into the sea and saved himself from drowning by swimming straight for science. By meticulously detailing Pauly's milieu and travails, Grémillet shows how Pauly's mission to end the over-exploitation of the seas is inherently linked to this great thinker's struggles with injustice wherever it may arise."
--Paul Greenberg, New York Times bestselling author of Four Fish

Praise for Daniel Pauly:

"[Daniel Pauly] is an iconoclastic fisheries scientist ... who is so decidedly global in his life and outlook that he is nearly a man without a country."
--New York Times

About the Author

David Grémillet is an oceanographer and research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He has authored numerous scientific publications, and this is his first book. He lives in France.