Atlas of Kinship

As a storytelling fellow with the American Bird Conservancy, I am writing a series of short essays about connections between seabirds, islands, and people in the Gulf of Maine. I am collaborating with seabird field biologist and artist Coco Faber, who is creating beautiful artwork to pair with each essay.

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For as long as seabirds and humans have explored and fished the Gulf of Maine’s waters, they have been in relation—seabirds were a source of food for early North Americans, the victims of severe overhunting by European colonists, the subject of daring conservations efforts by ornithologists, and a source of wonder for today’s nature lovers. Atlas of Kinship explores these relationships, taking the reader through the connections between individual birds, interactions amongst the many bird and fish species that inhabit the gulf, and the interconnections—both violent and caring—between seabirds and people.