A Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic Coast: Including the Jersey Shore, Cape May, Delaware Bay, the Delmarva Peninsula, and the Outer Banks

The Outer Banks of North Carolina and the beaches of the Mid-Atlantic Coast are among the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. This book is a richly illustrated field guide that surveys the geology, environmental history, natural history, and human history of a region that spans the eastern seaboard from Sandy Hook in New Jersey south to Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.   It is organized around environments, not particular locations. Included are the geology of beaches and barrier islands, the environmental history of the region, as well as detailed looks at the natural history of beaches, dunes, maritime forests, coastal marshes, and estuaries. Also covered are issues involving human activity and climate change, which have become dominant forces shaping geophysical and biological environments.   This guide will enable users to walk into a salt marsh or onto a beach and identify much of what they see.

About the Author :
Patrick J. Lynch is a former senior digital officer in Yale University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications and an award-winning author, designer, illustrator, and photographer. He is author or coauthor of nine previous books, including A Field Guide to Cape Cod. He lives in North Haven, CT.

Review :
Winner of the Nature Guidebook Category of the 2021 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA) “This is the perfect ‘beach book’! With Patrick Lynch’s beautiful illustrations and clear descriptions you’ll be able to identify and understand everything from seaweed to whales, from ocean waves to the origins of sand, and much, much more.”—David Allen Sibley, author of What It’s Like to Be a Bird “Covering the Atlantic coast from the Jersey shore to the Outer Banks, this beautifully illustrated and clearly written volume is the finest and most complete coastal field guide I have had the pleasure of reading.”—Orrin H. Pilkey, coauthor of Sea Level Rise: A Slow Tsunami on America’s Shores “Friendly to the reader and yet comprehensive, this important book will be welcomed by nature lovers of the mid-Atlantic region.”—Bruce M. Beehler, author of Natural Encounters: Biking, Hiking, and Birding Through the Seasons “This is a richly illustrated and expansive general field guide to the mid-Atlantic coast of North America. Wonderfully done!”—Mark Bertness, author of A Brief Natural History of Civilization “Patrick Lynch presents a detailed treatment of the coastal areas from NJ to NC, in clear, readable prose with abundant explanatory illustrations. The reader will come away with a very good overview of these areas, and their dynamic nature.”—Emily Southgate, author of People and the Land Through Time