Sex in the Sea

Our Intimate Connection with Kinky Crustaceans, Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep

By: Marah J. Hardt

Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer

Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome while holding their breath; full-moon sex parties of groupers; and daily mating blitzes by blueheaded wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops. From doubly endowed sharks to the mazelike vaginas of some whales, Sex in the Sea is a journey unlike any other to explore the staggering ways life begets life beneath the waves.

Sex in the Sea uniquely connects the timeless topic of sex with the timely issue of sustainable oceans. Through overfishing, climate change, and ocean pollution we are disrupting the creative procreation that drives the wild abundance of life in the ocean. With wit and scientific rigor, Marah J. Hardt introduces us to the researchers and innovators who study the wet and wild sex lives of ocean life and offer solutions that promote rather than prevent successful sex in the sea. Part science, part erotica, Sex in the Sea discusses how we can shift from a prophylactic to a more propagative force for life in the ocean.

©2016 Marah J. Hardt (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This quirky exploration of the mating habits of sea life ranging from sea slugs to giant right whales is narrated by Carla Mercer-Meyer, who adds the right touch of whimsy to the musings the author peppers among the fascinating facts about sexy sea creatures. Mercer-Meyer delivers the informative and often surprising material in a matter-of-fact tone but also communicates the author's amusement with the topics as well as her casual humorous asides." ( AudioFile)

great book, bad narrator

the narrator has a really grating monotone voice and makes an excellent book annoying

TMI!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book with the caveat that there is an amazing number of copulating sea creatures and too many are too similar. I think it could have been shorter, but it is a fascinating account of procreation in what may be the world's last and largest wilderness, where it turns out that nothing is new under the sun.

Would you be willing to try another book from Marah J. Hardt? Why or why not?

Sure, but I'm not in a hurry for the next one.

Have you listened to any of Carla Mercer-Meyer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but her reading of this book was perfect.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

A TV doc would be great.

Funny...Fascinating...So full of information!

Interesting facts on everything from finding a mate & courtship to sex changes on demand, intercourse to outercource, penises to vaginas! We also learn about our impact on these breeding practices from over-fishing and climate changes as well as the efforts to help protect, preserve, and increase populations.

I try to remember some of the strange facts to reiterate, but there's so many. Makes me wish I got the ebook instead. :-)

Excellent focus on ecology

After reading so many books about animal behavior that focused on the outdated ideology of evolutionary psych (e.g. good genes, sexy sons, and the like), it was extremely refreshing to read this author. She provided lots of animal behavior studies, general information about sea life, and tons of interesting information about animal sex in the sea. Interestingly, she related all of that to sustainability, climate change, and other current important issues.

I am not sure I would have picked up a book about how human practices change mating behaviors in sea animals. Her format for disseminating this information was great. She got the reader hooked on animal sea sex and used it to get her very important message out to society.

How to laugh while learning/ learn while laughing

Where does Sex in the Sea rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks to which I've listened. There was a lot of information about sea life sex, of course, but also about how our human activities affect it - often, unfortunately, in a bad way.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that it made me laugh while listening to a subject that is inherently pretty dry.

What does Carla Mercer-Meyer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She was a good narrator but I wish she, like many other narrators, would check her pronunciation of unfamiliar words. I have lived in the Florida Keys, so I know the animal is called a "conk" not a "conch", although it is spelled "conch." Also, the word nascent is "NAY-sent" not "nossent." Just little irritations in an otherwise good performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Getting busy under the sea

Any additional comments?

Very pleased with this book. I'm a big fan of Mary Roach, and this reminds me of her books.

Educational, & Humorous, but Slow

A little slow paced for my liking (even with the increased reading rate) and the abundant use of the word "kinky" was distracting, but overall I learned a lot and it was humorous.

Interesting Content - poor listening experience

Fascinating and informative content about the ocean creatures. Narrator sounded like an AI generated voice.

enjoyed it

Overall this is a very good, and informative book. The writing style is entertaining and makes for a few good laughs along the way. There is a lot of information in these pages and some of it is a little much to take in all in one sitting. I did find it encouraging and inspiring, just maybe a little long.

Interesting Book; ok narration

As someone working toward a career in marine conservation, I found the subject matter of this book fascinating. I liked the use of vignettes and the engaging narrative to discuss some of the most challenging issues facing our oceans. It was also nice that the author took a optimistic View. The narration was okay, but there were a number of mispronunciations which bothered me significantly. For example the author mispronounced anemone (as aneNoMe) about half the time and also is pronounced conch, Maldives, and a few other words. I would have hoped that audible would hire someone who knows about the subject matter to edit the audio book and ensure correct pronunciation. So that diminished the experience a bit for me.