European Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises

Dr Peter Evans has worked on marine mammals in Europe for more than 40 years. He was the founding Secretary of the European Cetacean Society, later its Chairman, and its Editor for 25 years. A member of several international committees, he has written and edited twelve books, mainly on marine mammals, and published around 200 scientific papers. He is the Director of the UK marine environmental research charity, Sea Watch Foundation, and lectures in the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor, Wales.

• 1. History of the ASCOBANS Agreement2. Conservation Agreements for the Protection of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises3. Regional Review of Cetaceans in NW Europe4. Systematic List of European Cetaceans5. Conservation Threats6. Conservation Research7. Conservation Actions8. Focus on the Future

"I could easily imagine a book on this topic without the extensive scope that the author includes, but it is this comprehensive nature that greatly enhances the volume. I found little to criticize here and what I found was nit-picky. The book ends with a short, direct, and what I would characterize as deeply honest chapter synthesizing the author’s personal thoughts regarding lessons learned, about ASCOBANS, and about conservation of marine mammals in general. In a world that can at times seem increasingly risk-averse and hyperfocused on optics, I found this chapter and its take-home messages to be refreshing, even more so because they are openly presented as his own opinions, with those of others also provided in seven stand-alone text boxes. This volume, celebrating the 25th anniversary of ASCOBANS, and with an explicit goal of giving insight into its successes and failures, provides an excellent framework for advancing such a challenging goal." --The Quarterly Review of Biology