Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69477 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
On dry land, most organisms are confined to the surface, or at most to altitudes of a hundred meters - the height of the tallest trees. In the oceans, though, living space has both vertical and horizontal dimensions: with an average depth of 3,800 meters, the oceans offer 99 percent of the space on Earth where life can develop. And the deep sea, which has been immersed in total darkness since the dawn of time, occupies 85 percent of ocean space, forming the planet's largest habitat. Yet, these depths abound with mystery. The deep sea is mostly uncharted - only about 5 percent of the seafloor has been mapped with any reasonable degree of detail - and we know very little about the creatures that call it home. Current estimates about the number of species yet to be found vary between ten and thirty million. The deep sea no longer has anything to prove; it is without doubt Earth's largest reservoir of life. Combining the latest scientific discoveries with astonishing color imagery, "The Deep" takes readers on a voyage into the darkest realms of the ocean.

Revealing nature's oddest and most mesmerizing creatures in crystalline detail, "The Deep" features more than two hundred color photographs of terrifying sea monsters, living fossils, and ethereal bioluminescent creatures, some photographed here for the very first time. Accompanying these breathtaking photographs are contributions from some of the world's most respected researchers that examine the biology of deep-sea organisms, the ecology of deep-sea habitats, and the history of deep-sea exploration. An unforgettable visual and scientific tour of the teeming abyss, "The Deep" celebrates the incredible diversity of life on Earth and will captivate anyone intrigued by the unseen - and unimaginable - creatures of the deep sea.

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous, brilliant book
I've always been fascinated by the deep sea. As David Attenborough has pointed out in the marvellous BBC series "Blue Planet", half of the world's surface is covered by water more than a mile deep, and we still know very little about what goes on down there. More men have walked on the moon than have penetrated the deepest ocean depths. This magnificent publication helps redress the balance. It takes you down to this bizarre world with its pitch blackness and crushing pressures and shows you some of its inhabitants (I believe a new species is discovered every ten days). The pictures are augmented by fascinating descriptions. The only sad note is that two of the creatures depicted, the two enormous squids (giant and colossal) with their dinner plate-sized eyes, will probably never be seen the way they have been depicted (artists' representations, as opposed to photos) - it was only recently that Japanese researchers got actual photos of the live animals. Still the artists' representations are fascinating and excite the imagination with the knowledge that there be real monsters down there and that this is what they look like.

Claire Nouvian has done us a great service by producing this book showing us an extraordinary world, and one which man is in the process of destroying without even knowing what's down there.

Absolutely stunning
Well done Claire Nouvian - I have been a fan of the fascinating denizens of the deep for many years, and have a lot of books on the subject, but this is the best so far. It's full of beautiful photos, printed on very high quality art paper, with excellent descriptions and accompanying stories by renowned sea explorers.

For anyone with the slightest interest in sea life, this book is a treasure trove of delights, to inspire dreams for years to come.

I can't recommend this highly enough - buy this book; you won't regret it!

Mind-Boggling Voyage: Like a Trip to an Alien Star System
Many people are attracted to science fiction because the writers make interesting speculations about how life can be different under conditions other than those we experience as humans. Such books often conjure up images of bug-eyed aliens with beautiful colors and amazingly symmetrical features.

Others love to see photographs of exotic wild animals, whether beautiful prey surviving amidst the carnivores in the African veldt, rare species on volcanic islands in the Galapagos, or male Emperor Penguins huddling to keep their eggs warm during the worst of the Antarctic winter. You can't help but change your life perspective by seeing those images.

If either shift in focus appeals to you, you have the treat of a lifetime ahead of you: The Deep will change your view of life forever.

Simply because we couldn't explore the depths of the ocean until very recently, people assumed that nothing was going on far beneath the surface. I can see why. I once took a harbor cruise in a submarine and we didn't have to go down very far before all color was leached out of the water and there was a desert around us. Naturally, the further away from the surface, the less light and oxygen there are. Life as we are used to it require lots of both.

But the oceans hold many surprises. The mountain ranges in the oceans are taller than the Himalayas. The canyons make the Grand Canyon look tiny by comparison. Around vents of volcanic discharge in rift zones, toxic minerals are transformed into useful food by bacteria and life flourishes based on different chemistry than we see on the surface. A dead whale can create an oasis of life deep in the ocean for decades. Methane seeps can also feed life and make it flourish. Deep sea coral are vaster than those we see in atolls. Jelly fishes and sea cucumbers flourish at incredible depths and in intense pressures. And it's not always dark. Many creatures provide their own light and can vary the intensity and color at will to look like the ocean itself -- a whole new dimension to camouflage.

Migrations of species vary also. The daily rhythm is to go up or down in depth to take advantage of food and to avoid predators. Seasonally, the vertical migration also occurs for similar reasons. Tiny creatures may swim thousands of meters up and down as a result.

The variety of life in the deep oceans is staggering: Most of the species on earth are there . . . and most have not yet been seen. There are probably 10 million species we haven't experienced yet. Can you imagine that?

The beauty and the eeriness of these creatures are almost beyond description. Some look like a science fiction illustrator's view of Martians. Others look like prehistoric creatures . . . and indeed some of the species are hundreds of millions of years old.

There's also a human lesson here: Like in most of the earth, the natural beauty is being plundered for gain. While deep sea trawling only captures 0.2 percent of the world's catch, it is destroying areas bigger than Europe as habitats for exotic life forms. Because these areas are outside the boundaries of any country, they are harvested in unlimited ways.

You'll gaze in wonder at these photographs and have your mind expanded wonderfully by the excellent essays in the book.

Unlike many books that capture images of animals, many of these photographs are larger than life . . . allowing you to enhance your observations over what you could experience in the wild. If you are like me, you'll wonder why the author put in four computer-generated images that obviously look phony. The real thing is unbelievably amazing without any tricks.

Deepen your sense of wonder at God's amazing creation with The Deep.