Editor's Summary
12 October 2006
Sea tales
The Census of Marine Life, a decade-long project to take stock of all forms of life in the sea, has catalysed growth in a young discipline: historical marine ecology. Tales from pirates, fishermen, travellers and others are collated on the History of Marine Animal Populations site (http://www.hmapcoml.org) to provide the back-story to modern ecology — a picture of the oceans before they were fished. Even restaurant-goers can contribute by providing a record of marine harvests since 1850 as measured by seafood prices.
News Feature: Oceanography: The real sea change
What can pirates' journals and centuries-old cookbooks teach modern-day ecologists? Mark Schrope meets the researchers who trawl history books for deeper insights into marine ecosystems.
doi:10.1038/443622a
