Environmental artist talks science comics, the Gulf of Maine and animal sex

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 1, 2026

Artist and environmentalist Perrin Roosevelt Ireland has been telling visual stories inside of scientific and policy institutions for years. Now in her debut book, “Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex,” she brings readers into the worlds of various species — hyenas, albatrosses, cephalopods, spiders and seahorses — and how they encounter sex. From mating, to pleasure,  desire and all that happens in between, creatures have much to say about gender and sexuality — and the world of science itself.