This book tells the life story of the most widely recognized seashell, the queen conch, accompanied by many color photos and detailed illustrations. The uses for, and fishery and farming of, this valuable natural resource are also discussed.

A Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year A Tampa Bay Times Best Book of the Year A stunning history of seashells and the animals that make them that "will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation" (John Williams, New York Times Book Review). Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature’s creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable history of our world through an examination of the unassuming seashell. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature’s wisdom—and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

The overall objective of this 10-year Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan is to guide the implementation of a set of identified management measures that can be applied at the regional or sub-regional level for the sustainability of queen conch populations and for the maintenance of a healthy fishery and livelihood of the people involved in the fishery. The ecosystem approach forms the basis of this Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan, enhanci ng partnerships and collaboration throughout the Wider Caribbean region to improve the long-term governance of queen conch fisheries across the Caribbean. The Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan was formulated with the following specific objectives: 1. To improve the collection and integration of scientific data needed to determine the overall queen conch population status as the basis for the application of ecosystem-based management. 2. To harmonize measures aimed a t increasing the stability of the queen conch population and to implement best-management practices for a sustainable fishery. 3. To increase coordination and collaboration toward achieving better education and outreach, monitoring and research, co-management and strengthening, optimizing and harmonizing regional governance arrangements. 4. To adopt regional management measures, which incorporate the precautionary approach

With more than 750 illustrations, including 300 color photographs, this guide covers more than 1,000 species, such as shoreside plants, clams, shrimps, crabs, corals, seaweeds, sponges, and sea urchins, as well as all of the common seashore communities found from Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Caribbean.

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of the pink pearl of the Caribbean. The pink pearl is produced by a very beautiful shellfish, the queen conch, and is unrivaled anywhere in the world. On average, one in every 10,000 queen conch shells contains a pearl. Sue Hendrickson, a professional diver and a female Indiana Jones, has spent much of her life collecting pink pearls most of which have been discovered by Caribbean people who fish for conch for its flesh. Hendricks

Twelve accurately rendered sticker illustrations depict the mussel, scallop, razor clam, quahog, queen conch, and seven other shells. Easy-to-read descriptions are accompanied by numbered spaces for applying the matching sticker.