My thanks to the following for assistance with this novel: Sophie Hamley, for her enthusiasm and insight; Jo Butler, for her sensitive and considered editing; Peter Bishop and Linda Funnell for the wonderful opportunity that is the Varuna HarperCollins Awards for Manuscript Development; the Macquarie Group Foundation for the LongLines Program; Arts Tasmania; the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre and Rosie Dub and Janice Bird, for their early comments on the manuscript.
And for their expertise in matters relating to illegal fishing, the toothfish fishery, fisheries science, seamanship, maritime electronics, the United Nations International Law of the Sea, naval operations and medicine, my thanks to: Martin Exel and David Carter (Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd); Darby Ross; Graham Robertson, Dick Williams and Steve Nicol (Australian Antarctic Division); Keith Sainsbury, Matt Sherlock, Don McKenzie and Al Graham (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research); Marcus Haward (University of Tasmania, School of Government); Commander Andrew McCrindell (Royal Australian Navy); and Scott Wilson (general practitioner). For information on Uruguay and Spanish language, thanks to Hermes Morales Grosskopf, Victoria Villar Vidal and Mauricio Duarte. For information on Russian language, thanks to Helen Kaminskaya. Any errors are my own.
Various sources were used to draw information for the novel. They include: Mysteries of the Deep, edited by Joseph J. Thorndike, Jr; Ocean Enough and Time by James Gorman; Antarctica: An Encyclopedia from Abbott Ice Shelf to Zooplankton, edited by Mary Trewby; ‘Extinction, survival or recovery of large predatory fishes’ in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series B in 2005 by Ransom Myers and Boris Worm; ‘Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities’ in Nature 423 in 2003 by Ransom Myers and Boris Worm; COLTO and TRAFFIC websites; ‘South America on a Shoestring’, Lonely Planet Guide, and ‘Viarsa captain praises justice system’, Australian Associated Press, 7 November 2005; ‘Report of Members’ Activities in the Convention Area: Australia 2002-03 (CCAMLR)’, <www.ccamlr.org/pu/E/e_pubs/ma/02-03/australia.pdf.>
Personal thanks to my family, particularly my parents Susan and Robert Bleakley, and friends. Heartfelt thanks, of course, to my husband, Craig Johnson, for his unwavering support and belief in this book, and to my children for their inspiration and patience.