Diana Atkinson reviews Soundings: Diving for stories in the beckoning sea for Tui Motu:
‘Soundings flows from Warne's early family life in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. His later work as a marine scientist and journalist led to wide-ranging sea and diving experiences. The stories in Soundings provide a wealth of detailed information and passionately encourage us to embrace the beckoning sea in our care for creation. Warne challenges us to understand marine animals such as sharks, Harp seals, whales, crocodiles, sardines, dolphins and deltas, coral atolls and reefs. He writes about the massive impacts on marine life he has witnessed from climate change — important insights for us as island-dwellers.
He discusses the use and abuse of oceans and their inhabitants. For example, marine protection areas are positive but they’re at risk of poachers. Should wild marine life become theme park circuses? Can Pacific atolls actually increase with climate change? Warne tries to dispel some marine myths and provides links to further information. However, myths about sharks and crocodiles still scare me.
Readers who care for the planet, sea-lovers and travellers will find Soundings informative, awe-inspiring and challenging. While I would have liked more photos and a few maps would have been useful, I found Soundings a fascinating and timely book. Thank you, Kennedy Warne.’
