The High Seas

Powerful reportage...awash with wonderful obscurities * Sunday Times *
There's a lyrical quality to Dr Heffernan's description of the diversity of marine life, and an ease with which she alternates science with historical nuggets * Irish Times *
A vital, fascinating, deeply researched exploration of Earth's last wilderness, owned by us all and by no one. This is powerful and urgent reportage that rips the veil of romanticism to reveal a vast world of criminal and dangerous enterprise accelerating beyond our shores, threatening us all. Shocking and starkly illuminating - a must-read. -- Gaia Vince
In her bold investigative book, Heffernan takes the reader on a journey like no other...a must-read book that will speak to everyone * Nature *
Compelling ... admirably clear-eyed, refusing the easy consolation of toothless treaties and mollifying pabulum from politicians * Economist *
With energy equal to her profound subject, Heffernan boards many ships and journeys from the Arctic to the Antarctic to bring us an illuminating portrait of a world we rarely see and barely understand - and of the hidden forces that threaten to wreck it -- Robert Kunzig
On the surface the seas roll on as always. But below, much is changing. And much more is at stake as humans seek plunder and profit beyond the reach of nations. In The High Seas, Olive Heffernan ably takes us into the history, the present, and the future of this largest and most mysterious realm of the planet. -- Carl Safina
In her gripping book ... "the high seas" is not a poetic term but a legal one, Heffernan reminds us, one that refers to "wild west" waters beyond the close reach of shore - up to two-thirds of the planet's oceans, which remain ungoverned by any sovereign system of law -- David Wallace-Wells * New York Times *
A comprehensive and disturbing investigation of the avarice and lawlessness that now afflict our ungoverned oceans; it took men and women a long time to comprehend the wonders of the deep but only a very brief period to begin their destruction. As to the cause of this oceanic crisis, The High Seas is clear ... this is a stark, grim story, succinctly told by Heffernan [and] it is hard to disagree with. -- Robin McKie * Observer *
An urgently needed wake-up call about the threat to some of the planet's most vital but often overlooked ecosystems: the deep oceans. Profoundly informed, passionately written and thrillingly adventurous, Heffernan's book is both a masterful study in natural history and a forensic survey of the forces and activities that could cause irreparable harm to these precious resources. -- Philip Ball, author of CRITICAL MASS
This book is the essential guide to the half of our blue planet we call the high seas, written by someone who has done more than almost anyone on earth in the last few years to understand the problems we face, and the solutions that might be available. -- Will McCallum, author & director of Greenpeace UK
Heffernan's reporting reveals our human imprint everywhere in the oceans, from the surface to the seafloor, by deciphering the geopolitics, economics, environmental sciences, and morality behind our use of the high seas -- Helen Rozwadowski, author of VAST EXPANSES
The best introduction I have ever read to the biological, technical, and institutional issues connected with the High Seas and the exploitation of its resources. A gem of a book! -- Daniel Pauly
In the vein of Ian Urbina's The Outlaw Ocean and Helen Scales' The Brilliant Abyss comes Olive Heffernan's The High Seas: an exploration of the breakneck industrialization occurring in the global ocean today. In clear prose, Heffernan investigates the ongoing experiments to bend the high seas to society's will as well as the unknown benefits and risks that may result. An important, timely book -- Laura Trethewey, author of THE DEEPEST MAP
A vital book at a deeply contested moment in history for our oceans and humanity at large. With beautifully rendered portraits and a thoughtful examination of the science, Heffernan has accomplished something extraordinary: bringing sense and rhythm to the contested, perilous, and often chaotic realm of our most remote seas -- Karen Pinchin, author of KINGS OF THEIR OWN OCEAN
Fast-paced, thoroughly reported and deeply disquieting * Science News *
A wonderful and eye opening book ... [The High Seas] is an impressive and sweeping study, ranging masterfully across time and space * Intelligence Squared *
The High Seas features a huge array of stories, brilliantly encapsulated in one book ... it's a fantastic and chilling read that takes us on a remarkable journey -- Paul Ross * talkSPORT Book of the Week *
A powerful, detailed and important book -- Graeme Gourlay * Dive Magazine *
Olive Heffernan has written a sobering account of the threats to marine life [and] was certainly not content to splash in the shallows when researching this book. The High Seas doesn't sugar-coat the tough reality facing our oceans and Heffernan has delivered a passionate and persuasive polemic, one that often feels as shocking as a bucket of cold water to the face -- Andrew Lynch * Business Post *
Fascinating -- Dr Waseem Akhtar * Demystified at Dublin City FM *