Weird Sea Creatures - Softcover

Hoyt, Erich

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770851917 ISBN 13: 9781770851917

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2013

Synopsis

An illustrated look at the weird and wonderful creatures that live in the very deepest parts of the sea.

Humans have always wondered, with a mixture of fear and fascination, what lurks beneath the surface in the depths of the ocean. In this book, Erich Hoyt introduces 50 of the oddest creatures you will ever meet in the sea. From the carnivorous comb jelly to the lantern-carrying deep-sea dragonfish, from a vampire squid with giant eyes to dancing jellyfish, Hoyt explores these peculiar conditions and their equally peculiar environment.

These creatures have adapted to lack of light and, using sound pulses (echolocation) or light-producing organs and pigment cells (emitting light via bioluminescence), they are able to communicate without giving their location away to predators.

These stunning, captivating photographs weren't taken from the portholes of submarines. Photographers David Shale, Solvin Zanki and Jeff Rotman worked with oceanography institutes, museums and the BBC Natural History Unit, taking long cruises across the ocean to record and try to understand these little-studied residents of the deep sea. To capture the creatures for observation, a net was lowered far beneath the surface. As soon as the trawl was hauled aboard, the photographers would race to transfer the most unusual animals to fresh seawater aquariums in a chilled laboratory on board.

These pages let readers gaze into strange, wild eyes and study faces with toothless or crooked smiles that witness the fruits of deep-sea evolution. Informative captions explain what the patterns of lights on their bodies are "saying" to others in their absolutely dark world. The wonder and extraordinary weirdness of what lives in the deep seas, so far away from us and yet so close, will become more familiar with this book.

About this title

About the Author

Erich Hoyt has spent much of his life on or beside the sea, researching whales and dolphins and ocean conservation. Hoyt is the acclaimed author of 18 books including Orca: The Whale Called Killer, Creatures of the Deep, and Whale Rescue. Based in Scotland, he works for WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, lecturing and doing research in Russia, Japan, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and offshore on the high seas.

Reviews

Gr 5 Up-Fangs, "fur," and photophores abound in this colorful celebration of decidedly odd and recently discovered species. Through 50 gorgeous photos, readers are introduced to a yeti crab; a spined pigmy shark; Dumbo, the octopod; and many other deep-sea dwellers. A carefully constructed introduction presents the physical characteristics of the abyssal ocean-its cold darkness, its cruel pressure-and of the difficulties in finding, collecting, and photographing the creatures that call it home. Also included are explanations of the function of chromophores and photophores and the little that is known about the "language of light"' of abyssal animals. Following those informative pages is an album of rare beauty. Stunning full-page photos give readers a rare close-up view of animals ranging in size from a 1/24 inch oikopleura squirt to a six-foot-long orangeback flying squid, each accompanied by a brief informative paragraph. For those who have enjoyed Sneed B. Collard's The Deep-Sea Floor (Charlesbridge, 2003), this is a veritable book of revelations. A feast for the eye and a tickle for the mind.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1770851917
• ISBN 13: 9781770851917
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64