Life Along the Delaware Bay: Cape May, Gateway to a Million Shorebirds has been published by Rivergate Books, an imprint of Rutgers University Press.  I copy-edited the entire text, which explores the unique ecosystem of the Delaware Bay and the struggle of migrating shorebirds, particularly the red knot, to continue to survive. Their main threat: a decline of horseshoe crabs precipitated by overharvesting, which has dramatically reduced the amount of horseshoe crab eggs available on the bay’s sandy beaches.  As the birds’ primarly food source, the eggs enable the red knots to successfully refuel en route from their wintering grounds in South America to their Arctic breeding grounds.

The book was written by three renowned New Jersey biologists: Larry Niles, a scientist with Conserve Wildlife of New Jersey; Joanna Burger, a distinguished professor of biology at Rutgers University; and Amanda Dey, a principal zoologist for New Jersey’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, which Niles formerly directed.

The handsome book also includes more than 300 full-color photographs by Jan Van De Kam, a Dutch wildlife photographer.

Besides ensuring a consistent style and adherence to a uniform grammatical style, I also worked with Niles to write all of the book’s captions. Previously, with Niles I co-edited (and partially wrote) another Rutgers University Press title, Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of New Jersey. He was also the main eagle biologist featured in my own book, Eagle’s Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life & Haunts of America’s Bald Eagle.