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A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab, and an Epic Journey The Narrow Edge (Hardback) - Common
In a volume as urgent and eloquent as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, this book--winner of the Southern Environmental Law Center's 2016 Reed Environmental Writing Award in the book category--reveals how the health and well-being of a tiny bird and an ancient crab mirrors our own
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First published April 28, 2015
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February 18, 2023
This represents for me a most unusual blend of the very personal and the professional. It was a Christmas gift from a co-worker with whom we share the use of a reagent made from the blood of horseshoe crabs. This material, which I’ve been using in my laboratories for 25 years, is required to test pharmaceutical intravenously administered drugs, to assure they are free of tiny amounts of extraneous impurities that could cause fever. What I learned more recently was the impact that harvesting of horseshoe crabs for any purpose impacts certain migratory shorebirds who depend on their eggs to complete a rather amazing feat: Flying the equivalent mileage of the circumnavigation of the the globe every year to breed, from pole to pole. Key stopovers are required to replenish (sometimes doubling in 2 weeks) body weights to fortify for the next leg of the journey. These small birds must feed or perish.
This author writes very well, and taught me a great deal about the animal kingdom, in particular a sandpiper known as the red knot. Her prose is deliberate and careful to be accurate, which as a scientist appeals to me greatly, yet is not stilted or boring. The lives of the “birders” and ecology community bring a human aspect to this account. I happen to know nearly all the characters personally who are involved in the trade making the reagent (limulus amebocyte lysate) extracted from the blood of the horseshoe crab. It was a unique experience reading the words of an author whom I have never met, describing a history and the people whom I know a great deal about. Cramer does the subject and the people faithfully, and puts their work into a much broader context that educated me. It gives me incentive to go out and learn more, push our own research further, and to make new contacts within the intersecting communities. After all, we all want the same thing, a safe drug supply for our family and fellow humans, as well as a wonderful natural world where all of god’s creatures can co-exist. These prehistoric armor-laden creatures with many eyes, some of the oldest organisms on earth, deserve some quarter as well, not only for what they provide to birds and humans.
Being a scientist myself, I appreciated the lovingly detailed and accurate depictions of all sorts of birds and wildlife. This could have been written as an ecological screed, but Cramer is careful not to insert even an iota of politics into this text. It is all the more powerful as a fact-based account, where uncertainty is properly qualified as conjecture or hypothesis. Some will find this text tedious, as it captures in great detail the findings and history of the animals, land and geology. But I found it thrilling, enlightening and remarkably intelligent. My science is very much applied, and this book reminded me that understanding the natural world is every bit as important as just serving the needs of mankind. It is this aspect that is so piercing to me, as I have a role and can make an impact based on the knowledge this lovely little book affords. It is my intention to share it with the individuals quoted and, perhaps even, I can meet the author someday and thank her for contribution and impact. She visited many of the sites that are written about and, as such, gives a first-hand account. The stories in the arctic and the incredibly harsh conditions required by these dedicated people to observe and record bird presence and activity is simply astonishing. There are so many wonderful people out there fighting to keep the planet habitable for all of us, and this book I found very inspiring. Some might find it depressing, as it recounts extinction, near endangered species, and the how food webs are in frightening decline. But I knew that and, if anything, am heartened. As of this writing I have the flu, and am listening to Miles Davis’ Kinda Blue, and feeling a tad vulnerable and transient as the courageous red knot sandpiper. Below find some of my favorite passages. (I am fortunate to know Jim Cooper but had no idea he was quoted when I picked this up – I also have spent time near Beaufort SC on vacation).
p. 108: “There is no horseshoe crab bait industry in South Carolina. When his company was young and getting established, Jim Cooper wrote me he was “shocked” to learn that fishermen delivered “truckloads” of horseshoe crabs to a tractor trailer in Beaufort, where baiters paid them “a quarter per crab.” Working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources he drafted legislation to end the South Carolina bait fishery. Aided by a member of his church as his wife, Frances, who said, “guided the legislative process from Charleston,” the legislation passed in 1991. The ban was foresighted. The biggest horseshoe crabs along the East Coast are in South Carolina: averaging almost one foot across, their size has remained constant over the years, suggesting a stable population.”
p. 170: “The cool, nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current abound with tiny marine plants that feed vast shoals of anchovy. At one time millions of tons of anchovy fed 60 million seabirds: cormorants, pelicans, and boobies that nested on the dry Chincha Islands off Peru’s coast. Over hundreds of years, their guano piled up into mountains 150 feet high. High in soluble nitrate and phosphate, the bird droppings, ignored by Spanish conquistadores seeking South America’s gold and silver, made excellent fertilizer. In 1858, at the peak of Peru’s guano age, over 300,000 tons of excrement, mined by convicts and indentured servants from China, were exported to Britain. American farmers in Delaware Bay were fertilizing with horseshoe crabs, but before guano, British farmers used insoluble, and therefore highly unsatisfactory, bones to fertilize their fields…Guano sales financed Peru’s debt until the War of the Pacific, also known as the Guano Wards, during which Bolivia and its ally Peru fought Chile over bird droppings. The story of Peruvian guano didn’t end with the Guano Wars or the introduction of synthetic fertilizer. Demand is rising again in a growing market for organic fertilizers, but now little Peruvian guano is left; about 4 million birds produce about 12,000 tons of guano a year. When anchovies were overfished, seabird populations crashed. A sea diminished by overfishing supports fewer birds and less abundance.”
p. 172: “In the worst of Earth’s five great mass extinctions- the Permian extinction, 250 million years ago- rivers of lava flooded Siberia, setting fire to vast underground coal seams and filling atmosphere and ocean with carbon dioxide. It was a cataclysm that extinguished 96 percent of marine species, but it spooled out over 60,000 years. If we’d been present, would we have recognized the implications of what we watched? Would we have noticed how a greenhouse atmosphere and carbon dioxide-laced ocean became injurious to life? The circumstances were dire, but as we feel the passage of time- day to day, m month to month, year to year- we may not see the gradual accumulation of loss or feel the urgency as we , and our children, accept the still-beautiful greatly diminished world we come into, knowing no other, and not realizing or asking what that world was or could be. Anthony Barnosky and his colleagues at the University of California project that if the current rate of extinction continues unabated, we will have unleashed Earth’s sixth mass extinction in just a few a few centuries.”
This author writes very well, and taught me a great deal about the animal kingdom, in particular a sandpiper known as the red knot. Her prose is deliberate and careful to be accurate, which as a scientist appeals to me greatly, yet is not stilted or boring. The lives of the “birders” and ecology community bring a human aspect to this account. I happen to know nearly all the characters personally who are involved in the trade making the reagent (limulus amebocyte lysate) extracted from the blood of the horseshoe crab. It was a unique experience reading the words of an author whom I have never met, describing a history and the people whom I know a great deal about. Cramer does the subject and the people faithfully, and puts their work into a much broader context that educated me. It gives me incentive to go out and learn more, push our own research further, and to make new contacts within the intersecting communities. After all, we all want the same thing, a safe drug supply for our family and fellow humans, as well as a wonderful natural world where all of god’s creatures can co-exist. These prehistoric armor-laden creatures with many eyes, some of the oldest organisms on earth, deserve some quarter as well, not only for what they provide to birds and humans.
Being a scientist myself, I appreciated the lovingly detailed and accurate depictions of all sorts of birds and wildlife. This could have been written as an ecological screed, but Cramer is careful not to insert even an iota of politics into this text. It is all the more powerful as a fact-based account, where uncertainty is properly qualified as conjecture or hypothesis. Some will find this text tedious, as it captures in great detail the findings and history of the animals, land and geology. But I found it thrilling, enlightening and remarkably intelligent. My science is very much applied, and this book reminded me that understanding the natural world is every bit as important as just serving the needs of mankind. It is this aspect that is so piercing to me, as I have a role and can make an impact based on the knowledge this lovely little book affords. It is my intention to share it with the individuals quoted and, perhaps even, I can meet the author someday and thank her for contribution and impact. She visited many of the sites that are written about and, as such, gives a first-hand account. The stories in the arctic and the incredibly harsh conditions required by these dedicated people to observe and record bird presence and activity is simply astonishing. There are so many wonderful people out there fighting to keep the planet habitable for all of us, and this book I found very inspiring. Some might find it depressing, as it recounts extinction, near endangered species, and the how food webs are in frightening decline. But I knew that and, if anything, am heartened. As of this writing I have the flu, and am listening to Miles Davis’ Kinda Blue, and feeling a tad vulnerable and transient as the courageous red knot sandpiper. Below find some of my favorite passages. (I am fortunate to know Jim Cooper but had no idea he was quoted when I picked this up – I also have spent time near Beaufort SC on vacation).
p. 108: “There is no horseshoe crab bait industry in South Carolina. When his company was young and getting established, Jim Cooper wrote me he was “shocked” to learn that fishermen delivered “truckloads” of horseshoe crabs to a tractor trailer in Beaufort, where baiters paid them “a quarter per crab.” Working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources he drafted legislation to end the South Carolina bait fishery. Aided by a member of his church as his wife, Frances, who said, “guided the legislative process from Charleston,” the legislation passed in 1991. The ban was foresighted. The biggest horseshoe crabs along the East Coast are in South Carolina: averaging almost one foot across, their size has remained constant over the years, suggesting a stable population.”
p. 170: “The cool, nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current abound with tiny marine plants that feed vast shoals of anchovy. At one time millions of tons of anchovy fed 60 million seabirds: cormorants, pelicans, and boobies that nested on the dry Chincha Islands off Peru’s coast. Over hundreds of years, their guano piled up into mountains 150 feet high. High in soluble nitrate and phosphate, the bird droppings, ignored by Spanish conquistadores seeking South America’s gold and silver, made excellent fertilizer. In 1858, at the peak of Peru’s guano age, over 300,000 tons of excrement, mined by convicts and indentured servants from China, were exported to Britain. American farmers in Delaware Bay were fertilizing with horseshoe crabs, but before guano, British farmers used insoluble, and therefore highly unsatisfactory, bones to fertilize their fields…Guano sales financed Peru’s debt until the War of the Pacific, also known as the Guano Wards, during which Bolivia and its ally Peru fought Chile over bird droppings. The story of Peruvian guano didn’t end with the Guano Wars or the introduction of synthetic fertilizer. Demand is rising again in a growing market for organic fertilizers, but now little Peruvian guano is left; about 4 million birds produce about 12,000 tons of guano a year. When anchovies were overfished, seabird populations crashed. A sea diminished by overfishing supports fewer birds and less abundance.”
p. 172: “In the worst of Earth’s five great mass extinctions- the Permian extinction, 250 million years ago- rivers of lava flooded Siberia, setting fire to vast underground coal seams and filling atmosphere and ocean with carbon dioxide. It was a cataclysm that extinguished 96 percent of marine species, but it spooled out over 60,000 years. If we’d been present, would we have recognized the implications of what we watched? Would we have noticed how a greenhouse atmosphere and carbon dioxide-laced ocean became injurious to life? The circumstances were dire, but as we feel the passage of time- day to day, m month to month, year to year- we may not see the gradual accumulation of loss or feel the urgency as we , and our children, accept the still-beautiful greatly diminished world we come into, knowing no other, and not realizing or asking what that world was or could be. Anthony Barnosky and his colleagues at the University of California project that if the current rate of extinction continues unabated, we will have unleashed Earth’s sixth mass extinction in just a few a few centuries.”
March 11, 2017
I both enjoyed and was saddened by this book, which is yet another recital of how natural populations of birds, fish and other wildlife have plunged from plenty to near-extinction levels. The red knot, a shore bird - so not known to most garden birdwatchers - is a small bundle of feathers, legs and energy, which travels between the furthest tip of South America and the barren reaches of Arctic Canada in a year. Deborah Cramer spent her year travelling on the knot migratory route, meeting the scientists and other observers who count, tag and study them.
The East Coast of the Americas has long historical records which Cramer delves into as she goes, telling us of explorers, settlers, fishermen, bird hunters, profiteers. Because if there is one thing people will do it is find a way to make a profit. Birds were shot in millions, barrelled, shipped for food, the spoiled ones dumped. And horseshoe crabs, a relic of the trilobite days which have survived five great extinctions, are now a part of the profit stream.
The knots depend on the crabs' eggs for fuel but a giant effort to exterminate the crabs got under way in North America. In part this was just to kill, crush and burn the crabs for fertiliser. Then the crab became bait for fishermen. Six towns enacted laws requiring crabs to be killed because they ate clams. But the crabs' rooting in sand disturbed worm colonies which also would eat the clams if left alone. Eventually it was realised that the horseshoe crabs were more beneficial than had been known and the outright killing stopped, plus scientists came up with alternative baits using far less crab in each one. The real benefit to humans however is now that the horseshoe crab has blue blood which clots instantly around any contamination or infection. This can be used to test products for sterilisation. Medical centres remove crabs from the water and bleed them, replacing them - but scientists believe the amount of bloodloss and shock cause impaired breeding, while the same crabs might be bled twice without realising.
Threats to the far-flying birds include shooting, insecticide, fouled waters, loss of food due to shore erosion, loss of food due to acidified water eating away clam shells, building on shores, sea walls replacing beaches and seagrass lagoons as the ocean rises, red tides of toxic algae, hungry predatory birds and Arctic foxes stealing their scattered pebbly eggs and chicks, polar bears turning in desperation to birds' nests for food as the ringed seals vanish due to melting sea ice.
Birds bring nutrients ashore and around the world in their droppings and bodies. We are told of a tropical island where native bushes were cleared and palms planted for harvest. But the birds preferred to roost in native plants, and the palm area rapidly developed depleted soil.
Hope comes from the cadre of dedicated, inspired, brave men and women who walk out on their own or in small groups each day, counting, tagging, studying. We meet them in all weathers and unpleasant conditions as they take degrees in bird science, or guide fishermen, or take responsibility for the beach near their home. The coasts are so long and convoluted, with inland waterways a part of the knot habitat too, that not all areas used by the little bird are known and a fractured population can't be depended on following the behaviour of a few birds with tracers fitted. As the knot is so small it can't carry a big radiotracer so shrinking computer components are aiding the process. Some areas are now being managed or conserved for shore birds, like former rice paddies in South Carolina.
I've watched the knot with many of the other shore birds, geese and ducks named here, but not those specific to America, in the saltmarsh off Bull Island in Dublin Bay. This is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and wildlife tourism is, or could be, a good contributor to any nation's economy. I recommend this book heartily to any one interested in birds, science, environmental services, nature journalism, the history of the Americas or the medical use of the horseshoe crab.
Notes in my hardcover are on pages 225 - 242, references 243 - 276. I counted 178 names I could be sure were female, about a third, but many scientific papers were listed by initials.
The East Coast of the Americas has long historical records which Cramer delves into as she goes, telling us of explorers, settlers, fishermen, bird hunters, profiteers. Because if there is one thing people will do it is find a way to make a profit. Birds were shot in millions, barrelled, shipped for food, the spoiled ones dumped. And horseshoe crabs, a relic of the trilobite days which have survived five great extinctions, are now a part of the profit stream.
The knots depend on the crabs' eggs for fuel but a giant effort to exterminate the crabs got under way in North America. In part this was just to kill, crush and burn the crabs for fertiliser. Then the crab became bait for fishermen. Six towns enacted laws requiring crabs to be killed because they ate clams. But the crabs' rooting in sand disturbed worm colonies which also would eat the clams if left alone. Eventually it was realised that the horseshoe crabs were more beneficial than had been known and the outright killing stopped, plus scientists came up with alternative baits using far less crab in each one. The real benefit to humans however is now that the horseshoe crab has blue blood which clots instantly around any contamination or infection. This can be used to test products for sterilisation. Medical centres remove crabs from the water and bleed them, replacing them - but scientists believe the amount of bloodloss and shock cause impaired breeding, while the same crabs might be bled twice without realising.
Threats to the far-flying birds include shooting, insecticide, fouled waters, loss of food due to shore erosion, loss of food due to acidified water eating away clam shells, building on shores, sea walls replacing beaches and seagrass lagoons as the ocean rises, red tides of toxic algae, hungry predatory birds and Arctic foxes stealing their scattered pebbly eggs and chicks, polar bears turning in desperation to birds' nests for food as the ringed seals vanish due to melting sea ice.
Birds bring nutrients ashore and around the world in their droppings and bodies. We are told of a tropical island where native bushes were cleared and palms planted for harvest. But the birds preferred to roost in native plants, and the palm area rapidly developed depleted soil.
Hope comes from the cadre of dedicated, inspired, brave men and women who walk out on their own or in small groups each day, counting, tagging, studying. We meet them in all weathers and unpleasant conditions as they take degrees in bird science, or guide fishermen, or take responsibility for the beach near their home. The coasts are so long and convoluted, with inland waterways a part of the knot habitat too, that not all areas used by the little bird are known and a fractured population can't be depended on following the behaviour of a few birds with tracers fitted. As the knot is so small it can't carry a big radiotracer so shrinking computer components are aiding the process. Some areas are now being managed or conserved for shore birds, like former rice paddies in South Carolina.
I've watched the knot with many of the other shore birds, geese and ducks named here, but not those specific to America, in the saltmarsh off Bull Island in Dublin Bay. This is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and wildlife tourism is, or could be, a good contributor to any nation's economy. I recommend this book heartily to any one interested in birds, science, environmental services, nature journalism, the history of the Americas or the medical use of the horseshoe crab.
Notes in my hardcover are on pages 225 - 242, references 243 - 276. I counted 178 names I could be sure were female, about a third, but many scientific papers were listed by initials.
October 20, 2015
This was a book which took a long time to read. It is complex and very detailed, addressing many issues simultaneously. Her writing is at times elegiac and elegant. I would like to read more of her work.
July 26, 2015
A very engaging book. An excellent case study showing the complexity of an ecological web very well written in layman's terms.
May 21, 2017
There's a point in most environmental books where I viscerally remember how much humans suck for the rest of the planet. God, do we suck. I'm still mad that we made giant sloths go extinct, and that was 10,000+ years ago.
Anyway, the writing of this book was a bit choppy in parts, but it was a good, well-researched conservation story.
Anyway, the writing of this book was a bit choppy in parts, but it was a good, well-researched conservation story.
October 24, 2017
Elegiac, with glimmers of hope. fascinating stuff about the horseshoe crab in particular.
September 2, 2023
I found the inter-relationship between red knots (birds) and horseshoe crabs fascinating. Also, the human induced boom-bust cycle of horseshoe crab populations over time was very interesting.
November 4, 2015
A fascinating and compelling exploration of the life and astonishing migration of the red knot, a small shorebird that travels from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic and back. One of the stops on the knots' journey is the Delaware Bay, a major horshoe crab breeding ground; the crabs' eggs provide the red knots with much-needed energy to finish their journey. Cramer writes vividly and well, and she has visited many of the places the knots travel, making her descriptions come alive with scents and sounds as well as sights. One of the best nonfiction books I've read this year.
FTC disclosure: I had the privilege of preparing the index for this book. I rarely review the books I index, but this one was so good, I really had to!
FTC disclosure: I had the privilege of preparing the index for this book. I rarely review the books I index, but this one was so good, I really had to!
May 22, 2015
The author describes the fascinating and incredible journey of red knots as they travel from the tip of South America to and from the arctic primarily in just two hops, with a single stop to refuel on horseshoe crab eggs. The author travels the route interviewing and working with researchers attempting to understand the life and physiology of the birds as well as their delicate interconnection with their dwindling supply food as the horseshoe crab population plummets. Somewhat repetitions in parts, I thought, but generally well told.
December 4, 2015
A fascinating and frightening account of the Red knot's 19,000 mile journey from South America to Arctic nesting grounds. Fascinating because the tiny birds have the instinct to navigate the long journey and return annually to the same feeding grounds. Frightening because the author documents the many environmental threats that have diminished the knot's numbers drastically. The miracle of the food chain is clearly illustrated and it's disruption does not bode well for birds or humans.
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June 20, 2016This is the first book that I'm marking as Did Not Finish... I'm not proud of that. But I just couldn't make it through. I tried.
Knots are cool birds and their natural history and evolution are fascinating. If this book had been organized differently, I think it would have been genuinely fun to read. The structure just wasn't the kind of non-fiction that I can zero in on and sink my teeth into.
Knots are cool birds and their natural history and evolution are fascinating. If this book had been organized differently, I think it would have been genuinely fun to read. The structure just wasn't the kind of non-fiction that I can zero in on and sink my teeth into.
June 8, 2016
There was some really good and interesting information in this book, but for some reason, it just didn't flow for me. There seemed to be lots of additional information, so it was just a little unfocused at times.
June 26, 2016
A timely, impeccably researched, beautifully written, and necessary book for the time we live in, and the future to come. I found myself absorbed not only by this remarkable bird but by the author's journeys and the many characters she encountered along the way.
November 2, 2021
I sought out this book at a distant library as it came recommended. I had to renew it twice to finish but it was a rewarding read even if I struggled to get into its flow. The research was almost painfully good as the extensive bibliography at the back of the book attests to (perhaps a quarter of the books pages). The author delved deeply into the social, natural and economic history of all the places she visited with incredible diligence, referencing field reports, personal conversations and scientific papers. From geology, to colonial days to the sandpipers she so loves.
For me, the book lacked some magic or unreserved emotion but perhaps she could not let go of the need to report scientifically. It felt like long form journalism - albeit one to the highest standard, and this is perhaps to be expected given the awards it won. That is not a criticism of the book in any way, just a reflection on my personal preference for the writing style of J.A. Baker, who seems to get lost in the world of the peregrines. This book is contrasting in style because you simply cannot lose yourself in the story for the science is so rigorous and the reality so stark. Perhaps I was hoping for more escapism and less journalism. Nevertheless it is a fantastic piece of work, one which must have taken hundreds if not thousands of hours to complete, and condensed for us into a couple of hundred pages. A spectacular journey and harrowing too, specially when it comes to the horseshoe crabs.
For me, the book lacked some magic or unreserved emotion but perhaps she could not let go of the need to report scientifically. It felt like long form journalism - albeit one to the highest standard, and this is perhaps to be expected given the awards it won. That is not a criticism of the book in any way, just a reflection on my personal preference for the writing style of J.A. Baker, who seems to get lost in the world of the peregrines. This book is contrasting in style because you simply cannot lose yourself in the story for the science is so rigorous and the reality so stark. Perhaps I was hoping for more escapism and less journalism. Nevertheless it is a fantastic piece of work, one which must have taken hundreds if not thousands of hours to complete, and condensed for us into a couple of hundred pages. A spectacular journey and harrowing too, specially when it comes to the horseshoe crabs.
July 18, 2020
The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab & an Epic Journey by Deborah Cramer is a major downer; a fact that does not lessen its importance. In tracing the red knot’s yearly journey from Tierra del Fuego to the arctic and back again, Cramer skillfully catalogs how our environment is coming apart at the seams: “We so easily settle for the diminished world around us, a world that, in terms of the richness and abundance of plant and animal life, may be a mere 10 percent of what it once was. Unaware of what we have lost, we can’t imagine what we might restore, and instead, we argue over how many of the scraps we might still take.” (p. 70) The red knot, flying along on the edge of extinction, may be a metaphor for humanity. Published in 2015, Cramer concludes with the barest sliver of optimism which, reading this in the latter half of 2020 now requires optimism of Pollyanna proportions. Cramer is a skilled storyteller and though this well-written and heavily researched book is painful to read it is equally necessary.
April 27, 2021
The red knot, a eastern shorebird, flies 9500 miles each year from Tierra del Fuego to the Artic, stopping along the way to refuel on horseshoe crab eggs, mussels and clams. Cramer takes this journey herself, collaborating with scientists, birders and volunteers who spend their lives observing and collecting data in order to determine how to keep these birds flourishing. Red knots are dependent on the ancient horseshoe crab along the Atlantic seacoast which provides food for millions of shorebirds. This book offers information elegantly: "The story of the red knot is a story of loss that turns toward restoration and renewal. It is a story of the tenacity and resilience of birds under pressure making long journeys year after year, even as their homes are diminished and their food grows scarce. At the end of their journey, they have taken the measure of a shoreline running the length of the earth."
February 28, 2024
This book, while giving you the smallest glimmer of hope, will break your heart. It's the story of how we have and continue to exploit, over-harvest, and destroy a variety of species and their habitats up and down our coastlines. One species gets a failing grade. Guess.
The impact on one species of shorebird, the Red Knot, is the focus. Some knots spend the northern winter in the far south of Patagonia, traveling all the way to the high Arctic to breed in the northern spring and summer. Cramer visits many of their stopping points. A key stopover is Delaware Bay, where the birds fuel up on horseshoe crab eggs. We've done our best to decimate the crab population. This has cascading effects across multiple ecosystems. All bad.
The impact on one species of shorebird, the Red Knot, is the focus. Some knots spend the northern winter in the far south of Patagonia, traveling all the way to the high Arctic to breed in the northern spring and summer. Cramer visits many of their stopping points. A key stopover is Delaware Bay, where the birds fuel up on horseshoe crab eggs. We've done our best to decimate the crab population. This has cascading effects across multiple ecosystems. All bad.
May 28, 2024
I did and did not like this book. It's a very depressing book. We humans simply like killing things and exploiting creation. Makes me sad. I'd like to know where all the author's predictions landed 10 years after publication. She seems to tend toward hyperbole, in my opinion. Nevertheless, even without hyperbole, her statistics are sad. I hate that our species is so enamored with the death of creation...and anything we touch.
July 30, 2017
This book retraces the journey of the red knot from South America to the arctic, through several important stops. Deborah Cramer shows the different species and places upon which the red knots' well-being and survival depends. But could other species as well depend on the red knots? Could it be that we depend upon them? Great research and nicely written, I loved this book!
April 12, 2018
Took awhile to finish this. I live on a sailboat 24/7 year around and see seashore birds daily. Look forward to seeing a red knot. I was never aware of the great lengths birders do in watching and counting. The last two days Terns have been visiting here. In the book the author mentions the attempt to educate children about the birds. I wonder if that ever happens where I live.
July 28, 2019
An excellent work and although I sometimes missed the detail the general gist and information was very troubling for the future of many species on this planet but mostly it would seem best if humans got it right or just ceased to be.
February 25, 2020
This is a detailed look at mainly two animals and their dependency on each other as well as how their populations effect so many others in the animal world. The horseshoe crab and the red knot, a bird that flies thousands of miles every year from South America to the Arctic to breed. The decline of both is shocking and sad at the same time, but the story is amazing. We need to work harder on improving our environmental issues!
July 22, 2021
Of special note is the portions of this book that explore the role of the Horseshoe Crab's blue blood in assaying the safety of medical equipment and products. The ecological plight of migratory waterfowl such as the Red Knot are equally well explained in other volumes about avian migration.
May 19, 2022
This book was a tough but interesting read. I learned a lot about horseshoe crabs and developed a lot of respect for them. The book had too much detail, and I found myself skimming in several places. I would like to see the horseshoe crab spawning and the red knots.
June 19, 2017
The Narrow Edge is The Silent Spring for our time. Beautifully written, compelling, profound, filled with despair and hope and resilience.
January 13, 2018
History of Red Knot and coneections
December 11, 2020
Informative, interesting, inspiring. Not as depressing as some other “state of the natural world” books but definitely sends a realistic message.
January 15, 2022
A nice book, but for me the horseshoe crabs were vastly more interesting than the red knots, so I got a bit bored at the end. I'm sure most people would think otherwise.
May 16, 2023
This was well-written but boring. It would have worked well as as a documentary, possibly even broken up into a miniseries.
July 28, 2025
Powerfully makes the point that, in nature, everything is basically connected to everything else, and that human exceptionalism ultimately threatens all of it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews