208 | Acknowledgements
Many seabird enthusiasts have kindly made time to answer queries
or check small sections of text. They include Mark Bolton, Maria Dias,
Annette Fayet, Tony Gaston, Tim Guilford, Fiona McDuie, Børge Moe,
Tamsin O’Connell, Steffen Oppel, Ollie Padget, Richard Phillips, Matt
Rayner, Nils Røv, Cleo Small, Philip Taylor, Ewan Wakefield, Ross Wan-
less, Bryan Watts, Henri Weimerskirch, and Barbara Wienecke. A small
group has been generous enough to read all – or nearly all – of the text
and provide countless helpful suggestions. The group contains Tim Birk-
head, Tim Brooke, Tommy Clay, Nick Davies, John Fanshawe, Adrian
Friday, Terry Jones, Peter Ryan, and Eric Woehler.
Deserving of a special mention is Mark Maftei whose rap presenta-
tion electrified the 2nd World Seabird Conference in 2015. This tour- de-
force caught me by surprise. Fortunately, after the presentation, Mark
was generous enough to retire to a quiet corner and repeat the lyrics
into a digital recorder, allowing me to transcribe the verses at leisure,
and quote some them in this book.
The following photographers generously supplied photos for possi-
ble use in the book: Peter Becker, Abe Borker, Dave Boyle, Annette
Fayet, Jacob González- Solís, Jamie Gundry, Oliver Krüger, Mike Harris,
Bungo Nishizawa, Richard Phillips, Matt Rayner, Maties Rebassa, Sa-
brina Weite kamp, Laurie Wilson, Rory Wilson, and Watanuki Yutaka.
Alas, the constraints of space meant not all their submissions could
be used.
Bruce Pearson has an extraordinary ability to capture the immensity
of the sea and the character of the creatures that dwell there in a few
strokes of his brush or pen. This facility is wonderfully evident in the
artwork he has supplied to enhance the book. I am indeed grateful.
At Princeton University Press, a small team worked tirelessly and
constructively to turn a variety of manuscript files into a coherent book.
Led by editor Ingrid Gnerlich, the team included David Campbell, Kath-
leen Cioffi, Frances Cooper, James Curtis, Meghan Kanabay, Dimitri
Karetnikov, Julia Hall, Sara Henning-Stout, Catja Pafort, Stephanie
Rojas, Pamela Schnitter, and Arthur Werneck.
Scientists, even those conducting studies on the world’s most distant
island specks, know full well that any success associated with their en-
deavours depends on building upon past knowledge, on standing on the