School Library Jour­nal:
“In 2000, a multi­na­tion­al group of sci­en­tists cre­at­ed the Tag­ging of Pacif­ic Preda­tors project (TOPP) to study the dwin­dling num­bers of ocean preda­tors and find ways to save them. This book reports on the work of sci­en­tists who fit­ted four species with satel­lite tags—loggerhead tur­tles, great white sharks, bluefin tuna, and sooty shear­wa­ter seabirds. The suc­cinct text describes where the ani­mals were found, how they were tagged, and what infor­ma­tion the sci­en­tists gleaned as they traced migra­tion routes, locat­ed feed­ing and breed­ing grounds, record­ed the dis­tances trav­eled and the length of time it took, and so on. Some basic facts about the crea­tures are incor­po­rat­ed as well, such as out­stand­ing phys­i­cal and behav­ioral char­ac­ter­is­tics, sens­es, and diet. The chap­ter on log­ger­head tur­tles also describes a “race” between 11 female tur­tles to see which one reached the Gala­pa­gos Islands first after lay­ing eggs in Cos­ta Rica. One or two sharp col­or pho­tographs or illus­tra­tions appear on every page; they depict the ani­mals (the under­wa­ter shots of sharks are par­tic­u­lar­ly good) and some of the sci­en­tists involved in the project. A map of the Pacif­ic, with col­ored sil­hou­ettes of the ani­mals and lines indi­cat­ing their trav­el routes, appears at the end of each chap­ter. An adden­dum cites the cur­rent esti­mat­ed pop­u­la­tion fig­ures for the preda­tors dis­cussed. Stu­dents of marine life and its con­ser­va­tion, as well as bud­ding oceanog­ra­phers, will find this title illuminating.”