Books & Websites

Here are some books, web sites and other resources that you can use to learn more about the amazing coastal marine wildlife that share our New England shorelines.

Quick links to the areas of interest listed below:

Animals

Education

Agencies and Organizations

Wildlife Viewing

Basking Sharks & General Shark Information

Books for Young Readers

  • Basking Sharks, Sharks Set II by Adam G. Klein
    ABDO Publishing Company 2006
  • Do Sharks Ever? by Nathalie Ward
    Down East Books 1999
  • Sea Creatures, My First Pocket Guide
    National Geographic Society 1996
  • Sharks: Menacing or Misunderstood by Heather Dakota
    Scholastic 2007
  • Sharks, Our Wild World Series
    by Laura Evert
    NorthWood 2001
  • Shark Attack Almanac Kidbacks by Beth Pickett Appropriate for grades 4 – 7

Books for Adults

  • The Shark Almanac
    by Thomas B. Allen
    The Lyons Press 2003, 274 pp.
  • Sharks
    by John D. Stevens
    Checkmark Books 1999, 240 pp.
  • Sharks: History and Biology of the Lords of the Sea by Angelo Mojetta
    Thunderbay Press 1997, 168 pp.

Papers for Adults

  • Sims, David W., Emily J. Southall, Victoria A. Quayle and Adrian M. Fox 2000
    Annual social behaviour of basking sharks associated with coastal front areas
    Proc. R. Soc. London B. 267:1897-1980
  • Skomal, Gregory B., Grayson Wood and Nick Caloyianis 2004
    Archival tagging of a basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, in the western North Atlantic J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 84, 795-799

Field Guides

  • A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife
    Marine Mammals, Seabirds, Fish and Other Sea Life
    by Noble W. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch
    Yale University 2005

Website Links

Ocean Sunfish

General Information

  • Swimming Heads by Tierney Thys
    Natural History, August 1994, pp. 36-38
  • Queerest Fish in the Sea? The Massive Mola
    by John L. Eliot
    National Geographic, December 1994

Papers

  • Diel movement patterns of ocean sunfish Mola mola off southern California
    by Daniel P. Cartamil, DP, Christopher G. Lowe
    Marine Ecology Progress Series [Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.]
    Vol. 266, pp. 245-253, 30 Jan. 2004
    The paper is available here as a pdf.

Reference Books and Field Guides

  • Field Book of Giant Fishes
    by Norman J. R. and F. C. Fraser,G. P. Putnam and Sons, New York, NY 1949
    Bigelow and Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine
    Edited by Brice B. Collette and Grace K. MacPhee
    Third Ed. Smithsonian Institution, 2002

Website Links

Plankton

Books for Adults

  • A Guide to Marine Coastal Plankton and Marine Invertebrate Larvae by Deboyd L. Smith, Kevin B. Johnson Kendall
    Hunt Publishing Company 1996
  • Coastal Marine Zooplankton. A Practical Manual for Students by Christopher D. Todd, M.S. Laverack and Geoff Boxshall
    Second Ed.
  • Methods in Marine Zooplankton Ecology by Makoto Omori and Tsutomu Ikeda
    Willey, New York 1984
  • Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts: A Guide to Their Identification and Ecology by William S. Johnson, Dennis M. Allen and Marni Fylling
  • Zooplankton Methodology Manual
    edited by Roger P. Harris, Peter H. Wiebe, Jurgen Lenz, Hein-Rune Skjoldal and Mark Huntley

Field Guides

Educational Resources

River Herring

Articles and Online Articles

Online Field Guides

Seabirds

Books

  • Birds in Massachusetts: Where and When to Find Them by Bailey, Wallace
    The College Press South Lancaster 1955
  • Birding Nantucket by Blackshaw, Kenneth T. and Andrews, Edith F.
    Nantucket 1999
  • Birding Cape Cod by Flock, Gretchen and Hecker, Ann P., editors
    Massachusetts Audubon Society Wellfleet 1994
  • Birds of Massachusetts by Petersen, Wayne R.; Veit, Richard R.
    Massachusetts Audubon Society 1993
  • Seabirds, an identification guide by Peter Harrison
    Houghton Mifflin Company 1983, 448 pp.
  • Bird Finding in New England by Walton, Richard K. and David R.
    Godine Publishing, Inc. Boston 1988
  • Seabirds, a natural history by Gaston, Tony
    Gardners Books 2004

Articles

  • Seabirds of Andrew's Point, Rockport, Massachusetts by Heil, Richard S.
    Bird Observer Vol. 29, No. 5, 2001

Website Links

Seals

Books for Young Readers

  • Baby Animals, Seals by Kate Petty
    Gloucester Press, New York 1990
  • A First Look at Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses by Millicent E. Selsam and Joyce Hunt
    Walker and Company, New York 1988
  • A Harbor Seal Pup Grows Up Baby Animals by Joan Hewett, Author and Richard Hewett, Illustrator
    Paperback, Carolrhoda Books 2002
  • A Gray seal Pup Grows Up Baby Animals by Joan Hewett, Author and Richard Hewett, Illustrator
    Paperback, Carolrhoda Books 2002
  • Animal Close-ups - The Seal, Furry Swimmer by Joelle Soler
    Watertown, Massachusetts, Charlesbirdge 1990
  • Seals Our Wild Worldby Wayne Lynch, John F. McGee
    2002
  • The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses by Marianne Riedman
    University of California Press 1990
  • ZooBooks 2: Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses by John Bonnett WexoSan Diego: Wildlife Education, Ltd., 1985

Online Articles

Field Guides

  • A Field Guide to the Whales, Porpoises and Seals of the Gulf of Maine and Eastern Canada: Cape Cod to Newfoundland by Steven K. Katona, David T. Richardson, Valerie Rough
    Smithsonian Institution Press 1977
  • Seals of Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States by Janice Hannah, Illustrations by Pieter Folkens
    International Marine Mammal Association Incorporated 1998, 2000

Website Links

Seashells - Molluscs

Books

  • Seashells of North America: A Guide to Field Identification by R. Tucker Abbott
    Golden Press, New York, 1968
  • The American Museum of Natural History Guide to Shells by William K. Emerson and Morris K. Jacobson
    Alfred A.Knopf, New York, 1976
  • Shells of the New York City Area by Morris K. Jacobson and William K. Emerson
    Argonaut Books, Inc., Larchmont, New York, 1961
    reprinted by Dover Publications as Seashells From Cape Cod to Cape May
  • Seashells of Long Island, New York: A Guide to their Identfication and Local Status by Long Island Shell Club
    The Long Island Shell Club, Inc., New York, 1988
  • A Field Guide to the Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies - 3rd edition by Percy Morris
    Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1973
    the most inclusive and best edited edition of this work, now in its fifth edition

Website Links

Sea Turtles

Books

  • Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation by James R. Spotila
    Johns Hopkins University Press 2004
  • Sea Turtles: An Ecological Guide by David Gulko and Karen Eckert
    Mutual Pub Co. 2004
  • Sea Turtle: So Excellent a Fish by Archie Carr
    University of Texas Press 1986
  • The Biology of Sea Turtles Marine Science Series by Peter L. Lutz and John A. Musick, Editors
    CRC Press 1996
  • Turtle Conservation by Michael W. Klemens, Editor, Nat B. Frazer
    Smithsonian Institution Press 2000

Website Links

Whales

Books for Young Readers

  • The Whale's Song by Dyan Sheldon
    Red Fox Picture Books 1990
  • Ibis - A True Whale Story by John Himmelman
    Scholastic, Inc. 1990
  • Discovering Whales of the East Coast by Stephen Mullane
    Elan Publishing, Inc. 2004
  • Fact Finder Whales by Dr. Anthony Martin
    Crescent Books, New York 1990
  • Humphrey, the Lost Whale by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall
    Heian Int'l. 1986
  • Seasons of the Whales by Erich Hoyt
    Chelsea Green Publishing Company 1990
  • "Whales" Our Wild World Series by Patricia Corrigan
    NorthWood Press 2001
  • Whale and Dolphin Coloring Book by John Green
    Dover Publications, Inc. NY. 1990
  • "Whales" ZooBook Wildlife Education, Inc.
    Whales for Kids by Tom Wolpert
    Wildlife for Kids Series, NorthWord Press 2000
  • Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises by Mark Carwardine
    Eyewitness Books, Dorling Kindersley, London 1995
  • Whales, Dolphins and Sharks Stickers and Seals by Lisa Bonforte
    Dover Publications 1988

Books for Adults

  • The World's Whales by Ken Balcomb and S. Minasian
    Smithsonian Books, W. W. Norton, New York, 1984
  • Seasons of the Whales by Erich Hoyt
    Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1990
  • Wings in the Sea, the Humpback Whale by Lois King Winn and Howard E. Winn
    University Press of New England, Hanover, NH. 1985
  • Porpoises by Andrew Read
    World Life Library 1999, 72 pp.

Audio Recordings

  • Whale-listening listen to sample tracks or purchase humpback sounds recorded off the Caribbean Island of Tortola by Paul Knapp
    CDs include "Rapture of the Deep" and "One and mostly one humpback whale."

Field Guides

  • A Field Guide to the Whales, Porpoises and Seals of the Gulf of Maine and Eastern Canada: Cape Cod to Newfoundland by Steven K. Katona, David T. Richardson, Valerie Rough
    Smithsonian Institution Press 1977A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife
  • Marine Mammals, Seabirds, Fish and Other Sea Life by Noble W. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch
    Yale University 2005
  • The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins by S.L. Leatherwood and R.R. Reeves
  • Sierra Club Books, San Francisco 1983Guide to Marine Mammals and Turtles of the U.S. Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico by Kate Wynne and Malia Schwartz, Illustrated by Garth Mix
    Rhode Island Sea Grant 1999, 115 pp.
  • Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises Eyewitness Handbooks by Mark Carwardine, Illustrated by Martin Camm
    DK Publishing Book 1995, 256 pp.
  • Stellwagen Bank: A guide to the Whales, Sea Birds, and Marine Life of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary by Natalie Ward
    Down East Books 1995, 232 pp.

Website Links

Conservation & Environmental Organizations

General Education Material

  • Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks
    Mass. Department of Education
    Science and Technology/Engineering for all grade levels May 2001
    Revised High School Standards for Science and Technology/Engineering, January 2006
  • Educational Coloring Books
    The Marine Biology Coloring Book, Second Edition by Thomas M. Niesen
    Harper Resource 2000
  • Educational Books for Elementary and Middle School Level
    Seaside Naturalist: A Guide to Study at the Seashore by Deborah A. Coulombe 1990
  • Marine Biology by Ellen Doris
    Thames and Hudson, Inc. 1993 64 pp.

Please check for web sites under Conservation and Environmental Organizations, International Regulatory Agencies and US Government Organizations.

International Regulatory Agencies

US Government Organizations

Marine Wildlife Viewing

 Massachusetts

Maine

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

Canada