Vaquita Talk and Book signing!

ENTANGLED: A Deep Dive into the Vaquita Crisis with Brooke Bessesen

When wildlife researcher Brooke Bessesen set out to write a book about the smallest cetacean, she had no idea how high the stakes would be. Traveling into Mexico, she found a cartel drama unfolding. Over the next twenty-two months, she followed the scientists studying vaquitas and the organizations and honest fishermen facing grave risk to save these tiny porpoises. Attempting to reconcile the conflicts obstructing conservation amid rising violence and a plummeting Vaquita population, Brooke found herself on a raw, personal journey to the doorstep of extinction. In this presentation, she helps clarify the historical and immediate forces driving the species to the brink and explores viable solutions to the crisis. Brooke is the author of the new book: Vaquita: Science, Politics, and Crime in the Sea of Cortez.

Join us for this special, free event with Brooke:

Saturday, February 2, 2019

11:00AM-1:00PM

Redwood Shores Library

Community Room

399 Marine Parkway

Redwood City, CA 94065

Free parking!

Brooke's talk will be followed by a question and answer session (~Approximately 11:00AM-12:00PM).

Then, for anyone who brings their own copy of her book, Brooke has graciously offered to sign them. It's never too early to think about holiday gifts! Buy a copy for yourself, a friend, 27 friends.. whatever you'd like!

Books can be purchased many ways. Kepler's Books in Menlo Park can order the book for you (but it does take 2 days to arrive). The book can also be purchased directly through Island Press, or through online vendors such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Also check in with your local bookstore in the county you're coming from! Please plan ahead so your book(s) arrive(s) in plenty of time!

**ISLAND PRESS has graciously given us a 25% off discount code to purchase the book through their website: https://islandpress.org/books/vaquita. When you checkout, put in the code TWSVAQUITA and it will be applied to your book(s)!

This code will be good for one year!

Please contact us if you have any questions.

About the Speaker/Author:

Brooke Bessesen has worked with wildlife for over thirty years. She's been eye-to-eye with humpback whales and surrounded by free-flying California condors. She has hand-raised a baby wallaby, rehabbed a rattlesnake, trained a tiger, and photo-identified dozens of wild bottlenose dolphins. As a research fellow, Brooke's marine studies in Costa Rica led to the naming of a new yellow sea snake, Hydrophis platurus xanthos. She is the author of seven books. Through her writing, Brooke strives to make science accessible. In 2010, she founded Authors for Earth Day, and many prominent kid-lit authors have joined the coalition to mentor young readers through special conservation-focused school visits.

About the Book:

In 2006, the last of China’s Yangtze river dolphins—baiji—succumbed to functional extinction, and la vaquita marina, a

diminutive porpoise endemic to the Upper Gulf of California, quietly and without fanfare inherited the title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Unlike many critically endangered species, the vaquita is not hunted. Nor is its habitat disappearing or degraded. The species is even protected by law. Why then have its numbers plummeted to near extinction? The answer lies in a shadowy mix of international cartels, fishermen entrapped by politics and culture, and an unlikely fish called totoaba.

In this haunting story, Brooke Bessesen sets out to untangle the intricacies behind the vaquitas decline. She interviews townspeople, fishermen, scientists, and activists, teasing

apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear. This beautifully written account of the forces driving extinctions around the world asks us to

face a hard question: What will we do now?