Skip to main content
Trade Books For Courses Tradebooks for Courses

Sex in the Sea

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

Marah J. Hardt

St. Martin's Griffin

opens in a new window
opens in a new window Sex in the Sea Download image

ISBN10: 125011859X
ISBN13: 9781250118592

Trade Paperback

288 Pages

$18.99

CA$24.99

Request Desk Copy
Request Exam Copy

TRADE BOOKS FOR COURSES NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive information about new books, author events, and special offers.

Sign up now

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 whilst 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 maze-like 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.

Beyond a deliciously voyeuristic excursion, 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, 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.

Reviews

Praise for Sex in the Sea

"Oh, the shenanigans that go on down below. From lobsters spraying urine on each other as part of their mating ritual to horseshoe crabs' orgies to the blue whale's 12-foot penis, Hardt covers the waterfront."The Chicago Tribune

"Funny and entertaining . . . but it is also a warning. Misunderstanding the mating habits and needs of sea life poses great risks to our own way of life."The Miami Herald

"In Sex in the Sea, Marah J. Hardt, research co-director of the nonprofit Future for Fish, gathers tales of marine love that are often as hilarious as they are disturbing."New York Post
"Hardt’s writing is often spectacular at describing the rituals and courtships of underwater reproduction . . . It’s descriptions like these—luxurious and strange—that help drive Hardt’s book."—The New Republic

"Sea sex is way more fraught than your average tinder hookup, Dr. Marah Hardt suggests in her weird, excellent new book . . . With endless enthusiasm and innuendos, Hardt explores the ‘salty erotica of the deep,’ from barnacle boners to the mass simultaneous orgasms of coral (take notes, gentlemen)."GQ

"An oceanographic Kinsey Report."O Magazine

"Sex and the sea are both deeply mysterious. The combination of the two is explosive and makes for a terrific yarn.”—Paul Greenberg, bestselling author of Four Fish and American Catch

"Sex in the City can't hold a candle to Marah Hardt's saucy and scholarly Sex in the Sea."—Nancy Knowlton, author of Citizens of the Sea

“Marah Hardt has written a kinky romp through the sea—a book that should earn marine biology an X rating.”—Carl Zimmer, author of A Planet of Viruses
“I think it was W.C. Fields who famously said 'I don’t drink water. Fish have sex in it.' As Marah J. Hardt tells it in this captivating, tell-all account, for quite a few sea creatures that’s the whole point. Sex in the Sea is a highly entertaining, exhilarating book and a wonderfully fresh take on the amazing biodiversity beneath the waves."—Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group

"A watery romp under the waves that will appeal to anyone wanting to broaden their knowledge of our watery planet."Kirkus Reviews

“Whether readers are new to the marine sciences or possess prior knowledge, they will find much to learn in this well-written and delightful study.”Library Journal (starred review)

"Hilarious . . . Hardt’s science is up to date in a field where research can be difficult, and readers will feel confident that they can talk intelligently about fish gonads at their next sushi dinner."Publisher's Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads

About the author

Marah J. Hardt

Dr. Marah J. Hardt is Research Co-Director for the non-profit Future of Fish. A coral reef ecologist by training, she is a former research fellow at Blue Ocean Institute. She has written for Scientific American, The American Prospect, and Scuba Diver Magazine, among other publications. She currently embraces life as a mermaid in the mountains of Boulder, CO.

Joe Laughlin. Kapoho, Hawaii