Oceans: Exploring the Hidden Depths of the Underwater World - Hardcover

Rose, Paul; Laking, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520260287 ISBN 13: 9780520260283

Publisher: University of California Press, 2009

Synopsis

The oceans are the single most important feature of our planet. They shape our climate, our culture, and our future. Yet their depths have remained a mysterious and unchartered expanse. This book, which accompanies a major BBC television series, draws on the most exciting stories from the fields of subaquatic archaeology, geology, marine biology, and anthropology to reveal an astonishing landscape of forgotten shipwrecks, submerged volcanoes, and hidden caves. For Oceans, explorer Paul Rose and his team of expert divers filmed fluorescence in Red Sea corals for the very first time and explored the undisturbed waters of the Black Hole off the Bahamas. They witnessed rarely seen behavior in sperm whales in the Sea of Cortez and discovered a potentially unknown species below the arctic ice pack. Undertaking thrilling and often dangerous dives, Rose and his team reveal the importance of the oceans to human existence―and at the same time trace the possible consequences of climate change on their delicate balance. Beautifully illustrated with more than 160 color photographs, Oceans unravels the mysteries of the deep and provides illuminating insights into this vast undersea domain.

"It is my sincere hope that this work will make more urgent the chorus of voices crying out to save the oceans."―From the foreword, by Philippe Cousteau

Copub: BBC

About this title

About the Author

Paul Rose, expedition leader and copresenter of the BBC television series Oceans, is a professional diver, polar guide, and mountaineer. He was the base commander of the British Antarctic Survey and ran the U.S. Navy's diver training program. Rose has presented several other BBC television series, including Voyages of Discovery, Climate Change, and Take One Museum. Anne Laking's programs have won a number of awards. She was executive producer of the Horizon documentary The Mystery of the Persian Mummy, as well as the BBC Four science series Time, Light Fantastic, and Visions of the Future. She is the executive producer of Oceans.

From School Library Journal

As reflected in the number of companion books being published (e.g., Deborah Cramer's Smithsonian Ocean), the world's oceans appear to be a hot topic for television specials and museum galleries. This latest volume accompanies a series recently broadcast by the BBC (which will likely be seen on U.S. television in the near future), and it has a twist. Instead of basic oceanography, this title examines "anthropological oceanography," the impact of humankind and the oceans upon each other; one member of the dive/production team is even a maritime archaeologist. The emphasis here is on the team's experiences, rather than on the science in which they might be engaged, as they explore their filming locations in each of seven oceans and seas of the world. The light tone and lack of a bibliography and further reading suggestions don't recommend this for academic libraries, but abundant beautiful photographs and extensive, well-written text will make this a good addition to public libraries (willing to deal with its large size, 29 × 23 cm) where there is interest in diving or the oceans.—Margaret Rioux, MBL/WHOI Lib., Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., MA
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Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0520260287
• ISBN 13: 9780520260283
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240