"Including the complete text of Dr. Earle's congressional testimony on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster." -- cover

Foreword / Bill McKibben -- A view from the Gulf of Mexico, April-June, 2010 -- Why care that the world is blue? -- Perspective -- The vision : limitless ocean bounty, infinite resiliency. Taking wildlife I : the mammals ; Taking wildlife II : the fish ; Taking wildlife III : the shellfish ; The ultimate garbage disposal -- The reality : the ocean is in trouble, therefore, so are we. Biodiversity loss : unraveling the fabric of life in the sea ; Drilling, mining, shipping, spilling ; Changing climate, changing chemistry -- Now is the time : opportunities for action. Exploring the ocean ; Governing the ocean ; Farming the ocean ; Protecting the ocean -- Acknowledgments -- About the author -- TED talk -- Congressional testimony -- Protected marine sites -- Chart assessing progress toward global marine protection targets -- Marine protected areas maps

"... [L]egendary marine scientist Sylvia Earle portrays a global ecosystem on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis unless we act immediately. A Silent Spring for our era, this eloquent, urgent, fascinating book reveals how the past 50 years of destructive--and ever accelerating--oceanic change threaten the very existence of life on Earth." -- back cover