Seasons of the Sea

Rating:
Summary: A Book for All Seasons
Review: True to its title, Seasons of the Sea explains the cycles of Florida sea life, season by season. It is written at the level of the layperson.

The book contains 6 chapters or sections as well as an introduction and an epilogue. It is 163 pages long, including a suggested reading list and an index. Each section covers a region of the Florida coast, starting with the northeast and ending at the panhandle. Each section is further divided into subsections that present what occurs along that coastal region in each of the four seasons. But the subsections also cover, in more detail, topics unique to each area. For example, the section on northeast Florida has a subsection titled "Thar She Blows!" that covers the annual migration of northern right whales to calve.

This book helped me solve the origin of a mysterious malady that afflicted me several times after kayaking in Mosquito Lagoon, part of Canaveral National Seashore. On those occasions, I had broken out in a red, itchy, stinging rash on several areas of my trunk. While reading the section on the southeast coast, I found out that this condition is called "swimmer's itch" and is caused by "minute jellyfish larvae that...produce toxins" and "can cling to human skin, especially when...trapped inside a bathing suit or wet suit."

Anyone interested in learning about life along the Florida coast should find this book fascinating. I did.