Talks on the Wild Side with Zoo Miami and the Zoological Society: Matt Rigney -- In Pursuit of Giants -- Coral Gables Museum

Start: Nov 8 2012 6:00 pm

Talks on the Wild Side with Zoo Miami and the Zoological Society: In Pursuit of Giants (Viking, $26.95) is an account of the high adventure of offshore sportfishing and a clarion call to preserve the last of the world's great fish. The story follows Matt Rigney's global pilgrimage to encounter surviving populations of giant marlin, swordfish, and bluefin tuna hundreds of miles offshore New Zealand and Nova Scotia; in the sportfishing mecca of Cabo San Lucas; off Japan, South Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef; and in the Mediterranean. Rigney goes deep into the spiritual experience of the offshore world and introduces us to swordfish harpooners, sportfish captains, marine biologists, fish- farming pioneers, and Greenpeace activists. Rigney explores the crisis in fisheries management and considers what the loss of healthy, vibrant oceans means to us-to our health, our children's future, and our ability to experience the divine in nature. In Pursuit of Giants combines the romance of a great sport narrative with the passionate advocacy of the best environmental writing. It recalls the spiritual power of Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard and will win comparisons to Mark Kurlansky's Cod.