Honolulu Star-Advertiser © Susan Scott
September 22, 1997
A few weeks ago, a fellow ocean-lover called to tell me about a new book. “Every time I open this book, I find another interesting piece of information,” he said. “It’s reader-friendly science that isn’t dumbed down.”
If there’s one way to get my attention, just say the words “reader-friendly science.”
Years ago I diverted from a career in biology to one of writing because it bugged me so to see science conveyed to the public so poorly. Either the jargon left you glassy-eyed or you felt like you were reading a first-grade primer.
I got a copy of the recommended book and found my friend was right. Not only is this book a treasure of good, clear science writing, but it’s the science we Pacific island residents crave: stories of the unique places we live.
“Tropical Pacific Island Environments,” by Christopher S. Lobban and Maria Schefter (University of Guam Press), is full of tales of people living with, studying and making policies about the plants and animals of their islands.
One of my favorites is the crown-of-thorns starfish tale. This starfish has a much larger stomach, relative to its body size, than other starfish, and is so flexible it can wrap its arms around branches of coral. But this is no friendly hug. The crown-of-thorns kills and eats coral by turning its stomach inside out over living polyps, thus dissolving them. The liquefied food is then absorbed through the starfish’s stomach wall.
Usually, crown-of-thorns starfish aren’t much of a problem, being just one of many predators of coral. But in 1962, the crown-of-thorns reached plague proportions on the Great Barrier Reef. In the late 1960s, Guam and Micronesia were stricken.
People were horrified by the destruction of their reefs and designed massive control programs. More than 220,000 crown-of-thorns were killed in the former Trust Territories, and 70,000 in Guam. In Chuk, teams of divers spent thousands of hours in recreation and fishing areas killing the starfish.
Then, in the 1970s, the plague ended. According to one Australian scientist, the control programs had little to do with the decline because no one fully understood the problem.
Today, experts are diametrically opposed in their interpretations of crown-of-thorns data. One side says this is a natural occurrence that does not threaten the reefs. The other says it is an unnatural phenomenon and could cause total reef destruction.
What’s a government to do about a potentially catastrophic situation for which the cause is still unknown? The authors of this book devote several pages to this question, detailing the dynamics, and reality, of scientific research.
They also point out that even though this problem is complex with no scientific certainties, the media and public tend to favor the “catastrophe model.” It’s more dramatic, more appealing and gives the impression that something is being done to remedy the problem. But is it right?
This book is packed with stories like this, and I can’t pick it up without learning something new or getting a new perspective on something I thought I knew most everything about.
The authors write in their preface that they believe science can be explained clearly. This book is a good example.
Teachers, high school and college students, policy makers, environmental lawyers and everyone else interested in our island environments should read this book.
More Info
TITLE: Tropical Pacific Island Environments
AUTHORS: Christopher S. Lobban and Maria Schefter, pen-and-ink drawings by Rick L. Castro
PUBLISHER: University of Guam Press, 1997
PRICE: Softcover, $50; hardcover, $70
AVAILABLE: UH Bookstore, Bishop Museum gift shop, Honolulu Book Shops, Bess Press, Hawaii Geographic Maps and Books.