California Marine Life is an invaluable guide to common marine species and various habitats found along the California coast. It is fully illustrated with brilliant color photographs of the fantastic creatures that live in these waters.

Here is a benchmark study of one significant stretch of the Pacific Ocean, the Southern California Bight. Extending from Point Conception to the Mexican border and out to the 200-mile limit, these waters have never before been investigated in such detail, from so many points of view, by such an eminent group of scientists. The twenty-five expert contributors summarize everything known about the physical, chemical, geological, and biological characteristics of the area in individual chapters; the volume concludes with a synthesis of the information presented. In addition, chapters are devoted to the influence of humans on the marine environment and to the various laws and governmental agencies concerned with protecting it. Because Southern California is so heavily populated and because the ocean is a major recreational area for its people, the information in this unique volume will be invaluable for the region's planners and decisionmakers as well as for all those who study the globe's marine resources and ecology.

Newly revised and updated, this guide to the most common animals and plants of the California seashore is a must-have companion for any curious beach visitor. Look no further than The New Beachcomber’s Guide to Seashore Life of California for the essential tidal guidebook. More than 270 of the sponges, molluscs, crustaceans, sea stars, sea anemones, jellies, fishes, seaweeds and other flora and fauna you’re likely to see are described here in concise detail, and each is photographed in splendid colour for identification in the natural habitat. This book contains an additional comprehensive guide to California’s best beachcombing sites and their distinctions, serving as an all-inclusive and beautifully informative resource. A perfect gift for yourself or any other beach walkers in your life, The New Beachcomber’s Guide to Seashore Life of California will delight casual and expert naturalists alike.

Few places in the world can claim such a diversity of species as the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), with its 6,000 recorded animal species estimated to be half the number actually living in its waters. So rich are the Gulf's water that over a half-million tons of seafood are taken from them annuallyÑand this figure does not count the wasted by-catch, which would triple or quadruple that tonnage. This timely book provides a benchmark for understanding the Gulf's extraordinary diversity, how it is threatened, and in what ways it isÑor should beÑprotected. In spite of its dazzling richness, most of the Gulf's coastline now harbors but a pale shadow of the diversity that existed just a half-century ago. Recommendations based on sound, careful science must guide Mexico in moving forward to protect the Gulf of California. This edited volume contains contributions by twenty-four Gulf of California experts, from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. From the origins of the Gulf to its physical and chemical characteristics, from urgently needed conservation alternatives for fisheries and the entire Gulf ecosystem to information about its invertebrates, fishes, cetaceans, and sea turtles, this thought-provoking book provides new insights and clear paths to achieve sustainable use solidly based on robust science. The interdisciplinary, international cooperation involved in creating this much-needed collection provides a model for achieving success in answering critically important questions about a precious but rapidly disappearing ecological treasure.