A Story of Revival

Praise for The Death and Life of Monterey Bay:

"In this buoyant history of Monterey Bay, it's the humans, not the ocean life, that take center stage…the happy ending, so rare in nature literature nowadays, is refreshing."
— Publishers Weekly

"[A] fascinating book, filled with anecdote and history, they explore the complex environment of the region, its fabulous sea life, and its colorful cast of humans."
— San Francisco Chronicle

How do an economy and an ecosystem recover in the face of record unemployment, devastating oil spills, and a rancorous public debate? California’s Monterey Bay offers a surprising and timely example. Monterey’s economy was built on its natural resources with a series of single, unsustainable industries— bubbles that inevitably burst. But the community recovered because of the uncommon foresight of ordinary citizens.

This good-news story is brought to life by noted marine biologists Stephen R. Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay is a refreshing look at how tenacious citizens can revive their communities. Once known for rampant whaling, overfishing, and putrid canneries, Monterey Bay has become a world-renowned tourist destination famous for its picturesque coastlines, enchanting otters, and popular aquarium. The community recognized that to sustain their economy, they must also sustain their environment. It’s a balanced approach that doesn’t take big-money bailouts and can be duplicated elsewhere.

From colonization by the Spanish in the 1700s to modern day, Palumbi and Sotka chronicle how a pristine bay was unwittingly turned into an industrial wasteland. The coast was sullied by one bubble industry after another until the otters, whales, and kelp forests were gone and discarded entrails from a dying sardine industry stunk up the coast. But thanks to the ingenuity of its citizens, Monterey Bay overcame the odds.

Because of Julia Platt, a trailblazing mayor who established the first marine reserve, a lost ecosystem was rebuilt, link by link, species by species. Because of the real “Doc” Ricketts, a philosopher and scientist immortalized in John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, citizens came to understand the importance of balance in their approach to the bay and that overexploitation will lead to disaster. And because of a few inspired students, abandoned canneries were transformed into a world-class aquarium, becoming the keystone of Monterey’s vibrant tourism industry and reviving the region’s economy. Palumbi and Sotka focus on these personal stories because human solutions aren’t “conceived or acted on by fish. It is people who are inspired to act, and whose acts inspire.”

The lessons of this book extend well beyond the beaches of Monterey Bay. All coastlines—and the country as a whole—face the same problems that confronted Monterey Bay. But both economies and ecosystems can come back to life: The Death and Life of Monterey Bay shows how.

Stephen R. Palumbi is the Director of the Hopkins Marine Station and the Harold A. Miller Professor of Marine Science at Stanford University. Carolyn Sotka manages science and policy outreach activities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative.