Book Description

With the growing popularity of salt water fly-fishing today, we easily forget that this sport was only begun in the 1930s-1950s. Brooks was one of the earliest pioneers of salt water techniques and salt water flies-both of which still catch fish today. His book, originally published in 1950, remains one of the best overall guides to the sport. ... Read more

Book Description

From the author of Monsters of the Sea and The Book of Whales comes an exhilarating armchair expedition to the last frontier on earth--the bottom of the sea. Ellis first surveys the history of deep-sea exploration, then plunges into the Atlantic's great repository of strange and wondrous fauna, 102 drawings. 32 photos. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Wonderful illustrations, pity the book.
This is a wonderfully illustrated book, except it is terribly written. Mr Ellis may have a good eye and hand, his writing is full of stock expressions and canned phrases. He seems unable to focus on any particular idea for more than a paragraph or so, and he meanders, but not in any reflective or thoughtful way. The text is full of paragraph length verbatim quotations from other books, even when there is no real need for it. He seems unable or unwilling to even attempt any sort of synthesis, even a personal one, of the themes that are supposedly the subjects of the book. He does have a good bibliography though, and it is probably more rewarding to skip his text and read the originals.

The real problem with the book though, is as a book of popular science, it is full of inaccuracies, mistakes, and contradictions. Among others, he writes red light has higher frequency than blue, when it is the other way around. There are many others like this, not really deep mistakes, but simples ones that should have been easily found. It seems the book was simply sloppily, superficially researched, and not carefully written and edited at all.

For a much better popular book, try William Broad's "The Universe Below".

cover to cover for a non-fiction book
I would truly love to meet Richard Ellis, the author of this book. He has produced a very eclectic bibliography on life in the sea. I understand that he began his career as an artist and all of his books are beautifully illustrated. This one in particular makes liberal use of scratchboard art which does a fine job of bringing the creatures of the abyss to life. The first section deals with the history of deep ocean exploration. I found it particularly interesting. Proceeding sections deal with the myriad of ocean geology and biology topics. Ellis' treatment of these subjects is effective, particularly for the person with interest but a less than advanced background in science. I don't think you will find all the information here in another single source. Ellis, if not a marine scientist, shows a mastery of research and bringing his topic together. Some of the information is a bit disjointed but all in all a very good read.

More Good Stuff From Ellis
I've enjoyed everything I've read by Ellis, and this is no exception. Like his other books, this one too seems to suffer from some mediocre editing, but the content more than makes up for it. The book is basically split into two sections, one describing the oceonography of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as a history of human exploration of the murky depths. The second section, which i found to be the more interesting of the two, is a broad survey of the animal life found in the deep areas of the Atlantic Ocean (and hence the title). I wish he was able to go into more detail about some of the bizarre and amazing animals that he discusses, and I wish that he could have included even more of his wonderful drawings, but despite those reservations, I still thought the book was great.

Great yet somewhat confusing book.
After spending time doing my own studies on the subject it was very nice to read someone as respected in the field and get some new and wonderful info. This book is filled front to back with countless accounts and drawings of deep-sea beasts. However his use of examples and the way in which he quotes some of his sources can easily draw you away from what the current topic is and blur the overall vision of the book. However I would strongly suggest this book to anyone who is in the least bit intrested by this subject.

Fascinating subject! Beautiful Illustrations!
I've been fascinated by deep sea life ever since I was in Kindergarten, when my teacher showed me a picture of a Gulper Eel. This is also great book for sparking a similar interest in deep sea creatures, no matter what your age. The detailed illustrations draw you into the pitch-black world where these remarkable creatures reside. The text is precise and informative, however I found the author relied heavily on too many footnotes. This made reading seem "choppy," and took away from the overall flow. I found myself frequently getting lost referencing footnotes, and having to back up to re-read portions. But overall it's very informative, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! Definately a conversation starter if left on the coffee table! ... Read more

Book Description

Now available in Spanish. Take the Monterey Bay Aquarium home with you in this comprehensive guide to the aquarium's award-winning exhibits and the habitats they represent, including kelp forests, rocky shores, shale reefs, sandy beaches, wetlands, coastal streams, sandy seafloors and the open ocean. A wonderful resource for anyone interested in the richness of life in Monterey Bay. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Restless Sea is an homage to marine-obsessed scientists. Discover editor Robert Kunzig lovingly describes pioneering oceanographers mapping the mountains and valleys of the sea floor, discovering strange ecosystems thriving in the abyssal deep, identifying strange new gelatinous zooplankton floating in the vast blue mid-ocean realm, finding out how marine food webs work, and (most depressingly) assessing the damage done by pollution and overfishing. Kunzig loves the sea, and he admires those who study its fringes, its surface, and its depths to figure out what makes it tick.

Part of Kunzig's purpose in writing the book is to highlight how little we actually know about the sea, especially now that we have the power to permanently damage it. We've got a lot to learn yet, but we've come a long way from the early oceanographers who had very little data to help them map the seafloor: "To say that they relied heavily on intuition in sketching the seafloor is to engage in euphemism: they made most of it up."

But the unknown represents opportunity and excitement for scientists. Kunzig clearly captures the thrill of discovery that makes otherwise sane people jump on boats and head out beyond sight of land, risking seasickness, numbing cold, and even death. Here he captures the moment when scientists realized for the first time that life existed down to the very bottom of the sea:

From the 150 pounds of grey, chalky mud, he and his collaborators sifted five species of mollusk, two species of echinoderm, an annelid worm or two, a sponge, numerous single-cell foraminiferans, and more.... Now the deep sea was, once and for all, alive; and the idea of an azoic zone anywhere on Earth's surface should have been dead, once and for all.

Kunzig's tour of the world's oceans and the scientists who study them is full of the joy of discovery. The Restless Sea makes you understand why a couple of echinoderms might be cause for a party. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A riveting ocean read
This well-written book attempts to show how little we know about the huge volume of our planet that lies beneath the surface layer of the ocean. Much of what we thought we knew has turned out to be wrong, and much of what we HAVE learned was discovered astonishingly recently---within the last generation in many cases. Also, Kunzig never lets you forget that the fascinating information we've gathered about undersea currents, say, or biological diversity at great depths, even ocean floor topology, is still sketchy and provisional. Rather than depressing, this is an exciting prospect, an adventure that is still in the early stages (and likely to remain so for some time, since undersea research gets hardly any funding). The only truly depressing part of the book, for me, is the account in chapter eight of the collapse (through overfishing) of the cod population off the coasts of New England and Newfoundland. In any case, Kunzig has the McPhee talent for highlighting the personalities of the scientists involved, but never loses sight of the underlying scientific issues. Also, I like how he begins, appropriately, with the water molecule and how the Earth got all it's water in the first place, then ends the book with how the planet may evenually lose it's water, billions of years hence. Nice symmetry there.

The Restless Sea
Absolutely the only uninteresting thing in this book is the title (which sounds like the title of a filmstrip you might have watched in school in about the sixth grade, back in the 60's.) It's a survey of what's known about the oceans, from their formation (the current thinking is that the water came from comets) and oceanography, what the engine is that keeps continental drift going (gravity), why jellyfish and so many other sea creatures are transparent (because underwater, there's no reason to waste resources on features like pigment) on and on and on, a wealth of information explained and described perfectly lucidly. He has a gift for writing very well, explaining technical information to the non-technical layman (I was a history major) as well as John McPhee ever could. It turns out that we have mapped the surface of Venus more accurately than the ocean floor.

So much of what I thought I knew about the ocean is wrong. Remember those relief maps you see, which show the continental shelf dropping off like the grand canyon into the abyss? Turns out that's not accurate, the continental shelf actually slopes at a very gentle rate, not as steep as the mountain passes the Tour de France racers climb. The maps exaggerate the slopes by a factor of ten, emphasizing the presence of the features over their accuracy.

There is so much information in here that I was feeling, as I approached the end of the book, that I should go back through and read it again, for all the stuff I missed.

The story isn't told in the first person plural, like a textbook, but rather is related through the stories of the scientists who made the discoveries. For instance, much of our current understanding of how continental drift works was done by a scientist heating a pan of paraffin in his kitchen. Because it's focuses on the stories of the scientists, it's a story as much about the development of science as about strict oceanography, how the limits of knowledge shift as our ability to ask questions and interpret the answers changes.

I could go on and on and on, but I won't. This is a wonderful, fascinating book about a very important topic. Read it.

fantastically informative
This novel is extremely well written and organized that it so allows the reader to absorb the tremendous amount of dazzling information being explored, yet not feeling overwhelmed.

Get the new one with pictures
Great book, however the new book, Mapping the deep, is the same book with pictures. The pictures are great to help understand what is being described instead of imagining it.

Stop global warming with a couple of iron freighters
Did you know that we could end 17% of the excess carbon dioxide that we generate every year to the bottom of the ocean? And do it by fertilizing the plankton with iron spread from a freighter? And that this has actually been tested by marine scientists? If not, read The Restless Sea and learn this plus dozens of other fun facts to know and tell. Kunzig is a kind writer. If a scientist has no personality, he writes about the science. If a scientist happens to be a truly warped human being, we get a paragraph or two about the warpage before Kunzig dives back into the science. If you hate James Gleick's endlessly tedious books (e.g., Chaos), you'll be refreshed by Kunzig's work. ... Read more

Book Description

Master storyteller Peter Benchley combines high adventure with practical information in Shark Trouble, a book that is at once a thriller and a valuable guide to being safe in, on, under, and around the sea. The bestselling author of Jaws, The Deep, and other works draws on more than three decades of experience to share information about sharks and other marine animals.
“Shark attacks on human beings generate a tremendous amount of media coverage,” Benchley writes, “partly because they occur so rarely, but mostly, I think, because people are, and always have been, simultaneously intrigued and terrified by sharks. Sharks come from a wing of the dark castle where our nightmares live—deep water beyond our sight and understanding—and so they stimulate our fears and fantasies and imaginations.”
Benchley describes the many types of sharks (including the ones that pose a genuine threat to man), what is and isn’t known about shark behavior, the odds against an attack and how to reduce them even further—all reinforced with the lessons he has learned, the mistakes he has made, and the personal perils he has encountered while producing television documentaries, bestselling novels, and articles about the sea and its inhabitants. He tells how to swim safely in the ocean, how to read the tides and currents, what behavior to avoid, and how to survive when danger suddenly strikes. He discusses how to tell children about sharks and the sea and how to develop, in young and old alike, a healthy respect for the ocean.
As Benchley says, “The ocean is the only alien and potentially hostile environment on the planet into which we tend to venture without thinking about the animals that live there, how they behave, how they support themselves, and how they perceive us. I know of no one who would set off into the jungles of Malaysia armed only with a bathing suit, a tube of suntan cream, and a book, and yet that’s precisely how we approach the oceans.” No longer. Not after you’ve read Shark Trouble. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

SHARKS!!!
this book is very good. it gives the reader an up close look at sharks. it is very interesting and warns us on the danger of swimming in the ocean. i have read this book twice and still find it a very good and easy read! if you loved jaws then you will love this book. great book with lots of facts.

More an autobiograhy than a non-fiction book
After writing "Jaws", getting famous, and having a movie made of the book, Benchley finally gets to meet the sharks. He realizes that they aren't all that bad, and this is what "Shark Trouble" is about - he says.

Benchley tells us about his underwater adventure while in the shark cage, his encounter with sharks while outside the cage, he describes six dangerous sharks (the man-eaters), and goes on with advice how to swim safely in the sea to avoid them. If we follow all the rules, we are - more or less, fingers crossed and prayers made - safe from sharks. It just happens, though, that sharks can't see very well in the dark or in murky water, and when they solely rely on other senses than their eyes, they tend to take a test bite, not more than a nibble the size of your foot or hand. It's nothing to worry about, and not going to be fatal, Benchley assures us, because a shark figures out pretty quickly that you are too bony to eat and immediately leaves you alone. So, unless your bleeding extremity attracts further sharks in want of exploratory bites, you stand a good chance to safely make it to the beach. And if there happens to be a knowledgeable lifeguard on duty, your chances to survive are even better. Believe Benchley: very few people die from attacks.

Well, I believe that sharks are not out to attack humans, but I get more reassurance by reading the books by underwater photographers Michele and Howard Hall, than by reading Benchley's. The writer does, occasionally, contradict himself or get wrapped up in storytelling (the shark-nibbling type), but he succeeds in bringing sharks into perspective: they are huge, possibly dangerous, rarely mean. They are important apex predators that keep nature's balance, they are the most feared but not the only dangerous ocean creatures, and they are threatened by extinction.

I enjoyed this book, especially the chapters on safe swimming in the ocean (which are good commonsense advice), the environmental children story, and his insights of the sea. It is, after all, not a book so much about sharks, as a book about Benchley, Peter Benchley, Benchley Peter, and, yes okay, his adventures with the sharks.

I was fascinated when Benchley recounted a ride on a manta, the exact same incident Michele and Howard Hall describe in their book "Secrets of the Ocean Realm." The two stories are quite different. Since Michele was the one who initially rode the manta, I tend to believe her story more. Not that it matters, but it makes me wonder how much of Benchley's personal shark encounters are laced with imagination, too. He does like fiction, after all.

A Surprising Delight
I really enjoyed this audio book.In it, Peter Benchely recounts his adventures in the seas interspersed with factual information on sharks and other sea creatures.Benchely, unlike some authors, reads his work with enthusiasm and skill, making it engaging from beginning to end.I came away with a much deeper respect for the sea and the creatures in it and a renewed sense of the importance of understanding the interconnectedness of all things.Besides the environmental importance of the book, it is full of fun and funny and even scary adventure stories.I highly recommend it.

Disappointing
Peter Benchley, author of Jaws, pens a non-fiction book setting the record straight on shark behavior.It sounds like a great idea and it is, but the execution is horrible.I would say maybe 50% of this book is actually about sharks; the rest merely lists dangers of the ocean (rips, tides, etc.) and non-shark creatures to be feared.Useful and mildly interesting, but I wanted a *shark* book.Another irritant is Benchley's "man is the real threat" stance.While valid (and true), his position is presented with an incredibly heavy hand.Peter, that horse isn't getting any more dead, so lay off!It's not a good sign when I end up tossing a book on the floor and yelling "I get it."Overall, a massive disappointment.

Benchley's Act of Contrition Works!
Peter Benchley seeks to atone for his unparalleled contribution to shark hysteria in Shark Trouble, a much more factual account of the Shark than his earlier works. Having achieved shark fame through "Jaws", Mr. Benchley was subsequently invited over the next several years to come play in the sea with the fearsome critters by numerous people looking to hype their own shark agendas with an appearance by the creator of "Jaws". After many years of diving and rubbing shoulders with shark legends, actual sharks and researchers in the field of shark behavior, Peter Benchly writes this memoir to philosophically reflect on the experience of his personal shark odyssey while touching from time to time on the emerging scientific understanding of the shark. I found it to be an excellent read. ... Read more

Book Description

Society has limited hazard mitigation dollars to invest. Which actions will be most cost effective, considering the true range of impacts and costs incurred? In 1997, the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment began a two-year study with a panel of experts to help develop new strategies to identify and reduce the costs of weather-related hazards associated with rapidly increasing coastal development activities.

The Hidden Costs of Coastal Hazards presents the panel's findings, offering the first in-depth study that considers the costs of coastal hazards to natural resources, social institutions, business, and the built environment. Using Hurricane Hugo, which struck South Carolina in 1989, as a case study, it provides for the first time information on the full range of economic costs caused by a major coastal hazard event. The book:

• describes and examines unreported, undocumented, and hidden costs such as losses due to business interruption, reduction in property values, interruption of social services, psychological trauma, damage to natural systems, and others
• examines the concepts of risk and vulnerability, and discusses conventional approaches to risk assessment and the emerging area of vulnerability assessment
• recommends a comprehensive framework for developing and implementing mitigation strategies
• documents the human impact of Hurricane Hugo and provides insight from those who lived through it.

The Hidden Costs of Coastal Hazards takes a structured approach to the problem of coastal hazards, offering a new framework for community-based hazard mitigation along with specific recommendations for implementation. Decisionmakers-both policymakers and planners-who are interested in coastal hazard issues will find the book a unique source of new information and insight, as will private-sector decisionmakers including lenders, investors, developers, and insurers of coastal property. ... Read more

Book Description

Seals and sea lions enjoy the freedom of the world's oceans. Playful and curious, these supremely adaptive marine mammals are among the best loved of wild animals despite spending most of their lives out of the sight of humans. Some species of sea lions have, however, suffered persecution to near extinction from over-exploitation. It's only recently that they have been protected by law, and while there are still threats to some populations, many are now recovering.

Seals & Sea Lions honors the lives of these fascinating animals with revealing photography and expert text. David Miller guides us into their world, so that we can learn some of their secrets and appreciate why their long-term protection concerns us all.

Also recommended: Sea Turtles, Alligator & Crocodiles.

Discover the world's animals in the WorldLife Library from Voyageur Press. This highly acclaimed series brings you the latest research from leading naturalists, along with stunning color photographs of your favorite animals.

David Miller works for the Scottish Natural Heritage as a manager of National Nature Reserves in the northwest of Scotland. He has also worked on research projects on harbor seals and on the resident populations of seals on other nature reserves including the remote island archipelago of St. Kilda. He has studied seals and other wildlife in Europe and North America. ... Read more

Book Description

The cry of a seagull, a plume of spray, the bright pink of a plastic float, boxes of glittering fish on the quay, fishermen's wooden sheds—all these stir in us deep memories of the sea.

Marie-France Boyer takes us on a voyage to fishing communities along the coasts of the North Atlantic and the shores of the Channel and the North Sea. She takes us to the heart of our collective memory, gathering traces of this separate seagoing world, which is both familiar and romantic. Lines, nets, lobster pots, marker flags, buoys, and anchors—from Boulogne to Birarritz, from Fécamp to the Ile d'Ouessant, from Maine to Norfolk, there remains an ancient repertoire, a visual imagery of richness and power.

Today this way of life, always subject to the violence of the elements, is disappearing. Fishing over the last fifty years has been completely transformed by industrialization, and small-scale coastal fishing is today in decline. Yet many of the old rituals remain—funerals, carnivals, festivals of the sea.

This book celebrates the harsh and singular world of fishermen, and reveals the poetry of the everyday. 147 illustrations, 131 in color. ... Read more

Book Description

This easytouse guidebook, now in its 10th printing, enables anyone, from beginner to expert, to identify 285 shorebirds and intertidal plants and animals. Beautifully illustrated with 94 colour photographs. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Simply Among the Best
I own and use numerous guides to creatures of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.Dr. Snively's book is clearly among the best of the genre.Her considerable skill as an educator and her extensive experience along local seashores have combined to create an excellent guide to the marine critters in this part of the world. ... Read more

Book Description

Invitation to Oceanography provides students with a fundamental overview of the four major branches of ocean science: geology, chemistry, physics, and biology. The approach used is a broad one, relying on basic concepts to explain the ocean's many mysteries. Anybody - whether sailor, surfer, beachcomber, or student - can learn about the processes and creatures of the oceans by reading this visually exciting book. The second edition of Invitation to Oceanography has undergone major revisions. The material has been reorganized so that the development of key oceanographic concepts flows logically and systematically from section to section. Chapter 2 reintroduces an imaginary trek across the sea floor of the North Atlantic Ocean to the very top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. A new chapter examines the numerous ocean resources, invaluable to the welfare of humans, and now shoreline geology and coastal biology are covered in separate chapters. No background in science is required to grasp the many important ideas that are relevant to the working of the oceans. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A superbly organized and presented textbook
Now in an updated and expanded third edition, Invitation To Oceanography by oceanographer Paul R. Pinet is a superbly organized and presented textbook for advanced students of this fascinating and specialized field of science. An optional student study guide enhances the primary text, which stands well on its own with full-color illustrations, and a wide survey of topics from marine sedimentation to biological productivity in the ocean, coastal habitats, ocean circulation and much more. With laboratory exercises designed by Karl Chauffe and Mark Jefferies which make use of safe, inexpensive, reusable, and readily available materials, Invitation To Oceanography is a very confidently recommended addition to academic reading lists, as well as an excellent curriculum resource for "student friendly" classroom instruction.

Weirdest textbook I ever used
Although Mr. Pinet can explain things very clearly, some of his writing is very strange, especially for a college textbook. At one point, he refers to animals as "critters." At another point, he recommends an experiment of taking your bathtub outside and putting by your pool when the wind is blowing. This book is full of weird little things like that.

Just what I wanted!
Although a college textbook designed for non-majors, "Invitation to Oceanography" contains much information for those interested in the subject. What I especially liked and appreciated the most were the application tasks. These are mathematical problems/questions one can use and apply to the ocean on their next trip to the beach. Moreover, the Internet links provided in the book add a great supplement. Educators at the secondary (high school or college) level will enjoy teaching from this book.

Great Applications Towards Oceanography
"Invitation to Oceanography" provides a wealth of information as a non-fiction text. For those interested in the complexities of the inner-workings of oceanic events and marine biology, this is the book to read. The book is a fascinating read delving into facts and figures of oceanic characteristics and definitions. Teachers and/or those interested in marine science will find the book intriguing with its application towards the field of mathematics, marine science, and chemistry. It will forever change how you perceive the ocean on your next beach vacation. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An Incredible Jouney
I decided to read Dr. Eaton's book after showing interest in becoming a volunteer whale watcher in his August, 2003, expedition to Johnstone Strait, B.C. Eaton's book took me through a passage I didn't expect in that the author draws on his vast and diverse studies and experiences, and successfully relates them to a comprehensive understanding of the orca. Anyone interested in an in-depth anthology of this wondrous cetacean should read "The Orca Project: A Meeting of Nations".
To call this book "bunk" is a statement that it wasn't read, or the reviewer is not in touch with his or her potential. Eaton's book is a highly pleasureable read!

Total Bunk
This book was one man's trip on how much the orcas adored him. He presented no scientific evidence to his claims, and thinks the orcas talk to him and he talks to them.

It was completely ludricrous.

The only reason I gave it two stars was because I liked some of the photographs.

Informative, entertaining, and insightful.
This book is put out by a small publisher, perhaps owned by the author, and thus I recommend ordering it from a bookdealer rather than direct (I met one person quite upset about the mess she had trying to get it directly from the publisher, though I myself had no problem).

Nevertheless, it isan excellent piece of writing.The author is a longtime whale and dolphinobserver, who literally swims with them and studies them closely.Thisbook contains short chapters, a good size for digesting one or two chapters(and subjects) at a sitting.

My favorite thing about this work is thenice mix of information with personal reflection and even mysticism.It isno textbook!While it contains very interesting observations (some I stillwonder about, maybe stretching things a bit...), but the very act ofstretching is pleasant, because as personal reflections, the author has theright to do that.Many truths can hit us not entirely from the brain, butfrom the heart or imagination.Randall Eaton is stretching thesescientific boundaries a bit with some mystical ideas, touching occasionallyon the idea that cetaceans may have ESP or similar communication abilities. But that is part of the charm of the book.It is also not preachy inpushing an animal rights agenda.Two of the best chapters of the book area presentation of reasons why cetaceans should not be kept in captivity;which he presents better than any other such argument I have seen.Theanalogy is simple: cetaceans go from life in the endless seas to life in anoversize, boring bathtub.This sudden reduction of social contact androaming space leads to many health and psychological problems in thecreatures.I am not sure where I stand on this, but he makes a persuasiveargument here.

I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Simply stunning
This large book contains page after page of gorgeous, jaw-dropping photographs.Mr. Rotman quite artfully employs macro photography to achieve a psychodelic affect that will cause involuntary smiles and appreciative head-nodding through out.I suspect most photographs are taken on night dives.The spectacular clarity and dark backgrounds conspire with the brilliant colors, textures, shapes and patterns of his subjects to transcend from photos to abstract art.I am very grateful to Mr. Rotman for sharing this view of our world.

I also own (and recommend) David Doubilet's "Water, Light, Time" and Norbert Wu's "Splendors of the Sea".If you enjoy either of these books, you will love Mr. Rotman's book.Mr. Rotman has a unique perspective and uses very different composition techniques, so this book is not 'more of the same'.

Over time, I plan to buy two more copies of this book so that I can preserve one copy as a book and separate out some pages on the other two copies for framing. ... Read more

Book Description

A portrait of the Gloucester fishermen—made famous by The Perfect Storm—that takes you deep inside their world. This powerful work brings the reader along with the fishermen as they plow the treacherous sea in search of the elusive and dwindling schools of fish. Kim Bartlett lets us hear the men speak and puts us right on the boat with them. 14 b/w photographs. ... Read more

Book Description

World-famous science and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and photographer Mike Wilson spent two adventurous years exploring the Great Barrier Reef, the mightiest coral formation in the world. Presented here are "the adventures and mishaps, successes and failures" of that underwater expedition, as recorded by Clarke himself.

Illustrated with rare underwater photographs, here is a unique look into a region of mystery, of boundless beauty and danger -- one of the most intriguing frontiers on our planet.

... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fascinating but dated look at underwater life.
Originally published in 1955, The Coast of Coral is an account of Arthur C. Clarke's exploration of the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia. He describes the large variety of coral found during his many dives there, along with fish and other inhabitants of the reef, including several shark encounters, all accompanied by sixteen pages of B&W photos. The book is somewhat of a look into the past, as much of the reef has now been destroyed by careless tourists, some fishing methods, pollution, and the more natural ravages of weather. Also dated is activity like eating sea turtle eggs, and walking on the reef, which the author retracts in his recently written introduction. Clarke touches on Australian culture and there are several chapters on pearl diving. Unfortunately there are a few typos, seemingly common in ibooks publications. An example from page 32 shows editors can't just rely on spellcheckers: "...if the hark did appear, I was chiefly anxious to get him in the game picture as Mike..." While the reader should be able to determine what is meant, these errors are irritating and could easily have been eliminated with better proofreading.

different side of a well known author
love it!!!!!
happened upon it in a small bookstore in providence ri.....
big fan of marine historical stories and this is definately one of them!!!!!
plus i am a a.c.clarke science fiction fan too...so great to see different side of the man....
quite humourous to see the differences in tech and thinking about diving...
love it.....cannot wait for the third in the series to be reprinted!!!!!! ... Read more