When biologist-diver-explorer Richard Pyle ventures into the almost-light almost-dark region of the sea known as 'the twilight zone', he finds new fish species at the rate of about seven per hour of observation," says Dr Sylvia Earle, National Geographic's Explorer in Residence, in her introduction to this book, which is subtitled A Global Survey of Marine Life.
Written by Darlene Trew Crist and two others, both marine scientists at the University of Rhode Island, this volume is an insider's description of the scientific project Census of Marine Life, launched in 2000 with the goal of producing the first-ever ocean census by 2010.
Two thousand scientists from 82 nations agreed to answer three important questions: What once lived in the global ocean? What is living there now? What will live there in
the future?
This book deals with the adventures, experiences and processes of gathering the data, and reveals behind-the-scenes stories.
It details some of the fascinating findings, the thrills encountered and the difficulties that had to be overcome. It also contains some ominous predictions.
This is not a book about diving per se, but assuming that divers are interested in the underwater world, and not just the scrap metal that might lie within it, this 256-page volume, with 400 well-reproduced pictures, makes for a very interesting read.
It is not something merely to be flipped through and left on a coffee-table.
John Bantin
Firefly Books
ISBN: 9781554074341
Hardback, 256pp, £30
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