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Target Readership	Sen. Secondary					For help with criteria, click here
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Contents:

Introduction; 1 - Ocean sanctuaries, marine reservoir parks?; 2 - Why spotlight whales, dolphins and porpoise?; 3 - Creating better marine protected areas for cetaceans: steps towards the design, establishment and management of marine protected areas for cetaceans; 4 - Strategies for protecting cetaceans to complement and supplement marine protected areas; 5 - Habitat protection for cetaceans around the world: status and prospects.

Review:

Cetaceans are one of the most 'popular' of families and as such they have considerable value in terms of conservation. It could almost be considered an umbrella family in that conservation of whales etc. will automatically include numerous other species. Therefore any text dealing with this issue is likely to be on interest.

Essentially, this book is a catalogue of sites annotated with details of status etc. (see below). However, there is more to it than that. The introduction describes the projects that led to the text. It also offers definitions and information about conservation strategies. As such it acts as a brief overview of current marine conservation. Chapter one looks at the history of protected areas. In addition it offers masses of data about cetacean location, the range of conservation measures available and the laws that exist. Much of these data are in table form making it easy to compare options. Chapter two argues the case for cetacean conservation based both on lack of knowledge (and therefore invoking the precautionary principle) and the value of their habitat for other species. Each cetacean species is logged according to location so we can see which cetaceae have problems, where. Chapter three outlines the value of ecosystem-based management in the creation of marine protected areas. There's also an outline of how to do about creating such as area. Maybe the marine protected area exists and it needs to be modified/updated for cetacean conservation. Chapter four looks at how this might be achieved. Chapter five, the vast majority of the text, is a detailed case-by-case account of each marine area's protected sites. We start with a map dividing up the oceans and a brief description of each. There follows details about each region using a common format. A description of the area is followed by key treaties that may be in force. A map highlights the area and marks the protected areas' location. A table then takes each area in turn with details on name and location, cetacean (and other species), notes/rationale and further information i.e. a potted overview of the value of each place. Usually there is a case study illustrating selected aspects.

There is much to recommend in this book. It has a great deal of information about all manner of marine protection areas. There is also a catalogue of cetaceae and details about their conservation. It is a highly specific text but one that deals with a popular family. It would add considerably to any conservation or marine study and should be seriously considered for such.