In “A Year With the Seals: Unlocking the Secrets of the Sea’s Most Charismatic and Controversial Creatures,” author Alix Morris confesses she hadn’t thought much about marine mammals. They reminded her of her dog; all she really knew of them was their popularity at zoos and aquariums.
That all changed one summer when living on the Maine coast, and she heard a news report about a shark attack on a New York vacationer. Local officials blamed it on the seals since their increased numbers were attracting more and more sharks to the area.
