Full color photographs of marine life from the most simple to the most complex.

Provides an introduction to ocean creatures by using each letter of the alphabet.

Magnificent coral formations create a lovely and mysterious ocean home for schools of anemones, sharks, and barracuda in this photo essay by one of the world's leading underwater photographers. Flounders hide in the sandy bottom and predators lurk at the edges while a sea turtle swims through to lay her eggs on the beach beyond. Colorful and dramatic photos bring to the reader the wonders of a very special undersea realm.

A Silent Spring for oceans, written by "the Rachel Carson of the fish world" (The New York Times) Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum Roberts—one of the world’s foremost conservation biologists—leads readers on a fascinating tour of mankind’s relationship to the sea, from the earliest traces of water on earth to the oceans as we know them today. In the process, Roberts looks at how the taming of the oceans has shaped human civilization and affected marine life. We have always been fish eaters, from the dawn of civilization, but in the last twenty years we have transformed the oceans beyond recognition. Putting our exploitation of the seas into historical context, Roberts offers a devastating account of the impact of modern fishing techniques, pollution, and climate change, and reveals what it would take to steer the right course while there is still time. Like Four Fish and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Ocean of Life takes a long view to tell a story in which each one of us has a role to play.

The Extreme Life of the Sea exposes the eternal darkness of the deepest undersea trenches to show how marine life thrives against the odds, describing how flying fish strain to escape their predators, how predatory deep-sea fish use red searchlights only they can see to find and attack food, and how, at the end of her life, a mother octopus dedicates herself to raising her batch of young.

Jacques Cousteau spent his life exploring oceans and sharing his discoveries through weekly television shows, documentary films, and books. He excited and educated people by bringing the underwater world-sharks, whales, penguins, dolphins, and sea turtles-within reach. This remarkable man also created important inventions like the aqualung, which allowed people to breath underwater. Even Cousteau's beloved ship, the Calypso, used as his home and office for more than forty years, became well known. His legacy lives on in the conservation efforts of the Cousteau Society. Book jacket.