MEDIA PREVIEW
Soundings: Diving for stories in the beckoning sea
KENNEDY WARNE
Ocean protection is again making headlines after United Nations members agreed in March to a landmark ocean treaty. This agreement upholds the 30 x 30 target two decades in the making: to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Founding New Zealand Geographic editor and writer Kennedy Warne has spent three decades exploring and reporting on the oceans and advocating for their conservation. In his beguiling memoir Soundings, published by Massey University Press in June, he reflects on his lifelong passion for the ‘beckoning sea’ and humanity’s complex relationship with the oceanic world.
Told with immediacy and verve, Warne shares many experiences from his more than 20 years in the field as an underwater reporter for National Geographic. Memorable moments are lyrically recalled, including encounters with whales and sharks off the coast of South Africa, swimming with crocodiles in the Okavango Delta and diving with harp seals under the sea ice in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Drawing on strong personal and family connections to the sea — his grandfather was a boatbuilder and deep-sea fishing guide — Warne recalls a childhood spent boating and fishing with family in the Bay of Islands and Hauraki Gulf. Weaving memories and experiences, he reflects on his love for the sea — a love now tempered by deep concern over the impacts of overfishing, environmental damage and human-induced climate change.
Warne says, ‘Ten years ago I was invited to take part in a research workshop hosted by the University of California Santa Barbara called ‘Sea Change’, in which several environmental historians and marine researchers gathered on the island of Santa Cruz to discuss ideas of environmental and social justice in relation to the sea. We were trying to imagine what a ‘blue ethic’ might entail. I have been trying to extend that thinking ever since.’
Despite the threats facing the seas, Warne is hopeful about efforts to preserve and protect oceans and marine life. ‘One
of the places I return to most often is Maunganui Bay, in the Bay of Islands, where I have seen with my own eyes the
transformation of reefs from barren places to flourishing ecosystems through the decision to ban fishing,’ says Warne.
Soundings is a timely contribution to the literature of the sea, and from the magical underwater encounters Warne recounts a wider conversation emerges about human engagement with the oceanic realm. Throughout the book, one question dominates: How can we care for and reconnect with the seas around us?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kennedy Warne, co-founder of New Zealand Geographic magazine and contributor to National Geographic, often writes about the sea, including the book Let Them Eat Shrimp: The Tragic Disappearance of the Rainforests of the Sea. His most recent books, however, are land-based: Tuhoe: Portrait of a Nation and View from the Road, a collaboration with photographer Arno Gasteiger. He has also produced two children’s books with Northland illustrator Heather Hunt:
Cuckoo and the Warbler and It’s My Egg (and you can’t have it!). Once a fortnight Warne speaks about the outdoors, nature and adventure on RNZ’s morning programme, Nine to Noon, in a slot entitled ‘Off the Beaten Track’.
PUBLISHED BY MASSEY UNIVERSITY PRESS, 8 JUNE 2023, RRP $39.99
