Nice interweaving of personal stories of lobster related people in Maine and some lobster research. Biased, but openly so,portraying the government scientists as blinkered , but at least including some “rebel” scientists with respect ( )

bookbox; Lobsters used to be a peasant food - who knew? Author spent a few years on a lobster boat. He mostly follows the families on Little Cranberry Island, off the coast of Maine. Nobody had really studied lobsters, from Egg through adulthood to figure out their predators & who was most likely to subcome. And lots is still not known, such as why an area becomes devoid of lobsters, and others ones are overabundant. It was written in 2014, and from googling, there still is a disagreement between the lobster fishermen and the government - now there's a ban because of a whale that lobstermen don't feel is really an issue. ( )

The Secret Life of Lobsters is about the marine scientists and lobstermen of the Cranberry Islands of Maine as much as it is about the crustacean. The author worked on a lobster boat for several years and his enthusiasm about the subject is apparent. I’d like to meet some of the people written about in these pages.
I took a few marine biology classes in school and so with that background, I did find the book interesting. I'm not sure the lay person with only a little curiosity could withstand chapter after chapter of experiments and minutiae. I found the pace lagging at times. I did learn a lot and I’m glad that I read it. No doubt, I will remember eggers and notchers, claw holding and face-peeing for a long time to come.
If I was going to recommend a Corson book to you though, I would suggest The Zen of Fish, which is about sushi. That was a five-star read for me. ( )

I read this at least 10 years ago but was recently reminded of it and how much I liked it. It was surprisingly gripping! ( )

This book, published in 2004, is as much about the lobstering community in Maine as it is about the lobster. It talks about the ways in which the community has gone about the fishing business, how the fishery is managed, and how both fishers and scientists monitor the health of the population. The book explains how lobsters court, mate, reproduce, and go about their day-to-day lives. I found the lobster biology fascinating, particularly how they use smell to get around, and how female lobsters take charge of the mating aspect.

The main drawbacks to this book are of course the fact that it’s about 17 years old now (reading in February 2021) and that there aren’t any pictures. That said, some may consider the lack of pictures to be an advantage, because lobsters may not hold the same appeal as, say, kittens and puppies.

I’d recommend this if you like to read books about animals that are perhaps under-appreciated, or if you like books about the northeastern United States. ( )