''This is my earliest memory. I am three years old and I sit in the bottom of my great-uncle''s pot boat and take off the bands from the lobsters'' claws. The deepest of blues, they creak over the bilges with robotic limbs towards my father''s bare feet as he rows. Over the scent of the herring bait I can smell the fresh, sweet smell of wrack on the shore. This book has come out of over twenty years of studying the sea and trying to protect it, and a lifetime of loving our other world beneath waves.''
In Spring Tides, marine biologist Fiona Gell tells the story of a pioneering project to create the very first marine nature reserve on the Isle of Man. Growing up in a traditional fishing family on the island, Fiona spent her time on her grandfather''s boat, listening to stories from the local fishermen and combing the beach for mermaid''s purses and whelks'' eggs. She developed a lifelong love of the sea and Manx culture, and on her return to the island after twel
