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Marine Turtle Newsletter 15:10-11, © 1980

Book Review: 'The Windward Road' Reissued

N. Mrosovsky

(by Archie Carr, reissued 1979 in paperback by the University Presses of Florida, 15 N.W. 15th Street, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A. $6.95, U.S.A.)

For most readers of the Marine Turtle Newsletter this delightful book, first published in 1956, needs no review. All they need to know is that now they have a chance to have their own copy. For those who have not read it, the subtitle "Adventures of a Naturalist on Remote Caribbean Shores" may be instructive. Carr tells of his adventures "nosing around the tropics" in search of information about sea turtles. As to what is meant by adventure, "the thing is ... as you may know, but I had not discovered then...", he writes in the 1956 edition, "...adventure is just a state of mind, and a very pleasant one ... a great asset if you use it right". In a newly added preface for the 1979 reissue, he tells of the water that has passed under the bridge since 1956 and how his state of mind has changed, for example on such things as eating endangered species. However, only a general evaluation of Operation Green Turtle is given: it cannot be proved that it restored any green turtle colonies, but it brought about the start of international concern about Chelonia mydas and led to new research. Perhaps some day Carr will provide a full account of the release of hatchlings on different beaches in the Caribbean, with tables of how many were released and when. Details of this ambitious attempt to reestablish turtle colonies should be collated and available. The story of Kemp's ridley is brought up to date with a reprint of Carr's letter to Sir Peter Scott describing its recent decline (see also Marine Turtle Newsletter No. 4, May 1977) and the recent joint Mexican-American efforts to save this species. This is all in the new preface. Apart from this preface, the addition of a few not very well reproduced photographs, and a foreword by Joshua B. Powers telling of the impact that "The Windward Road" made and how it led to the formation of the Brotherhood of the Green Turtle and the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, the original book is unaltered. Temptations to improve and justify have been wonderfully resisted. This is a classic and it remains as fresh and vibrant as ever.