Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From internationally renowned marine biologist Dr. Richard Smith comes an underwater journey into the homes of hundreds of unknown sea creatures
Dr. Richard Smith has dived into the ocean more than thirty-five hundred times. He regularly comes face to face with sea animals most of us have never heard of, and certainly never seen; he's even discovered and named many of them. In The World Beneath, Dr. Smith takes us through the mysterious, sprawling deep blue sea and introduces us to its jaw-dropping, but unknown residents.
Through his mesmerizing words and his award-winning photography, we venture deep into the unknown with him as our guide. We meet his beloved pygmy seahorse, which he is is the world's leading expert on. We dive with him in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. We meet the likes of viperfish, vampire squid, spider crabs, and frilled sharks.
The creatures we meet through Dr. Smith are both friendly and dangerous, but they're all fascinating. Sadly, many of them are in jeopardy, with likely extinction ahead. We get to meet them before it's too late.
Complementing the text are thirty-two jaw-dropping and richly colored photographs from Dr. Smith's expeditions. These include some of his award-winning ones and others being seen for the very first time. They show the striking colors of the sea creatures and give a remarkable up-close view of their world.
Synopsis
Meet the world's most fascinating sea creatures--see the lives and curiosities of colorful fish and coral reefs--this spectacular volume has more than 300 color photos and extraordinary text from a leading marine biologist and underwater photographer, and the international expert on seahorses.
In this richly informative volume, brimming with new discoveries and more than three hundred colorful images of jaw-dropping fish and coral reefs, you'll swim in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans; you'll be dazzled in the Coral Triangle and amazed in Triton Bay. Up close you'll meet the Cenderawasih fairy wrasse, with its florescent yellow streak; the polka-dot longnose filefish; and the multicolored seadragon. There are scarlet-colored corals, baby-blue sponges, daffodil crinoids, and all sorts of mystifying creatures that change color at the drop of a hat. The whale shark is almost larger than life and the author's beloved pygmy seahorse, unless photographed, is almost too tiny to see.
The wondrous creatures inside are charmers and tricksters and excel in the arts of seduction and deception, and you'll have the rare chance to see and delight in their antics. You'll also learn what they eat, how they play, and how they care for one another, live on one another, and mimic others when they're afraid. There is also compelling insight into the naming process, which sea creatures are facing extinction, and how we can help them before it's too late.