Scan barcode
A review by char1otte
Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone by Juli Berwald
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Before being given this book I had never really thought about jellyfish outside of memories of slimy balls of goo sometimes found along the beaches of my childhood holidays. But rarely did the medusae come up in those memories as anything of impact. I don't even know if I experienced and acknowledged them as living creatures. But Dr Berwald's retelling of her history with jellies and her exploration of the wider issues surrounding the sea, increased acidification of the oceans and how jellyfish blooms might or might not be a phenomenon deeply intertwined with climate change has really shown me how fascinating these underresearched animals are. While being a work presenting many interesting facts about not only jellyfish but other sea life, I also enjoyed that - as the title implies - there was some deeper agenda here: Growing a spine, in the sense that humans need to act in order to preserve not only the beautiful oceans and the life forms depending on the seas, but also protecting the ecosystems which are intertwined with water, fishery, marine-adjacent habitat. Unfortunately for me, the 'activist' message of the book was kept quite brief and was only mentioned in passing. I would have liked to see some more actionable advice and examples of impactful habits, organisations etc. for me to consider. Still, I really enjoyed this soft introduction to jellyfish and the research focused on them. A first step to halting the climate crisis is certainly realising what the stakes are, what we are losing. And Dr Berwald has masterfully shown that each single species we get to share this planet with is spellbinding and enthralling, and definitely worth conserving and saving.
Edit: One of the main questions I found myself asking throughout the book is this: How do all the marine scientists encountered throughout Dr Berwald's research still eat fish? It is not mentioned once that maybe supporting lowering ones consumption of (meat and) seafood would improve the situation immensely. I understand that trying out jellyfish as a delicacy and also sampling local cuisine on travels might be slightly different and part of the (research) experience but regularly eating fish in places where this is not locally or sustainably sourced surely is one of the easiest actions to avoid when trying to conserve a liveable earth for us. For someone who is against animal cruelty and concerned with overfishing and preserving diversity, there might be scenes in this book which are hard to stomach.
Edit: One of the main questions I found myself asking throughout the book is this: How do all the marine scientists encountered throughout Dr Berwald's research still eat fish? It is not mentioned once that maybe supporting lowering ones consumption of (meat and) seafood would improve the situation immensely. I understand that trying out jellyfish as a delicacy and also sampling local cuisine on travels might be slightly different and part of the (research) experience but regularly eating fish in places where this is not locally or sustainably sourced surely is one of the easiest actions to avoid when trying to conserve a liveable earth for us. For someone who is against animal cruelty and concerned with overfishing and preserving diversity, there might be scenes in this book which are hard to stomach.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death