10 Best Oceanography Books

Julia Rothman’s best-selling illustrated Anatomy series takes a deep dive into the wonders of the sea with Ocean Anatomy. Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages. Also available in this series: Nature Anatomy, Farm Anatomy, Food Anatomy, and Nature Anatomy Notebook

Dive into this uniquely elegant visual exploration of the sea An informative and utterly beautiful introduction to marine life and the ocean environment, Oceanology brings the riches of the underwater world onto the printed page. Astounding photography reveals an abundance of life, from microscopic plankton to great whales, seaweed to starfish. Published in association with the Smithsonian Institution, the book explores every corner of the oceans, from coral reefs and mangrove swamps to deep ocean trenches. Along the way, and with the help of clear, simple illustrations, it explains how life has adapted to the marine environment, revealing for example how a stonefish delivers its lethal venom and how a sponge sustains itself by sifting food from passing currents. It also examines the physical forces and processes that shape the oceans, from global circulation systems and tides to undersea volcanoes and tsunamis. To most of us, the marine world is out of reach. But with the help of photography and the latest technology, Oceanology brings us up close to animals, plants, and other living things that inhabit a fantastic and almost incomprehensibly beautiful other dimension.

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.

A New York Times Bestseller A Forbes Top 10 Conservation and Environment Book of 2016 Read the sea like a Viking and interpret ponds like a Polynesian –with a little help from the “natural navigator”! In his eye-opening books The Lost Art of Reading Nature ‘s Signs and The Natural Navigator , Tristan Gooley helped readers reconnect with nature by finding direction from the trees, stars, clouds, and more. Now, he turns his attention to our most abundant–yet perhaps least understood–resource. Distilled from his far-flung adventures–sailing solo across the Atlantic, navigating with Omani tribespeople, canoeing in Borneo, and walking in his own backyard–Gooley shares hundreds of techniques in How to Read Water. Readers will: * Find north using puddles * Forecast the weather from waves * Decode the colors of ponds * Spot dangerous water in the dark * Decipher wave patterns on beaches, and more!

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014 • Scientific American Recommended Read ” Fascinating, informative, exhilarating.” — Wall Street Journal Deep is a voyage from the ocean’s surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving–in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath–James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential–including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves. “A journey well worth taking.” –David Epstein, New York Times Book Review “Nestor pulls us below the surface into a world far beyond imagining and opens our eyes to these unseen places.” — Dallas Morning News “This is popular science writing at its best.” — Christian Science Monitor

National Geographic underwater photographers and the Census of Marine Life capture the astonishing diversity and the most intriguing organisms in the ocean in this riveting book, by marine scientist Nancy Knowlton. As you read lively vignettes about sea creatures’ names, defenses, migration, mating habits, and more, you’ll be amazed at wonders like . . . * The almost inconceivable number of creatures in the marine world. From the bounty of microbes in one drop of seawater, we can calculate that there are more individuals in the oceans than stars in the universe. * The sophisticated sensory abilities that help these animals survive. For many, the standard five senses are just not enough. * The incredible distances that seabirds and other species cover. Some will feed in both Arctic and Antarctic waters within a single year. * The odd relationships common in the marine world. From a dental hygienist for fish to a walrus’s one-night stand, you’ll find beauty, practicality, and plenty of eccentricity in sea-life socialization. Brilliantly photographed and written in an easygoing style, Citizens of the Sea will inform and enchant you with close-up documentation of the fascinating facts of life in the ocean realm.

From one of the world ‘s most renowned cave divers, a firsthand account of exploring the earth’s final frontier: the hidden depths of our oceans and the sunken caves inside our planet More people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest, and we know more about deep space than we do about the depths of our oceans. From one of the top cave divers working today–and one of the very few women in her field– Into the Planet blends science, adventure, and memoir to bring readers face-to-face with the terror and beauty of earth’s remaining unknowns and the extremes of human capability. Jill Heinerth–the first person in history to dive deep into an Antarctic iceberg and leader of a team that discovered the ancient watery remains of Mayan civilizations–has descended farther into the inner depths of our planet than any other woman. She takes us into the harrowing split-second decisions that determine whether a diver makes it back to safety, the prejudices that prevent women from pursuing careers underwater, and her endeavor to recover a fallen friend’s body from the confines of a cave. But there’s beauty beyond the danger of diving, and while Heinerth swims beneath our feet in the lifeblood of our planet, she works with biologists discovering new species, physicists tracking climate change, and hydrogeologists examining our finite freshwater reserves. Written with hair-raising intensity, Into the Planet is the first book to deliver an intimate account of cave diving, transporting readers deep into inner space, where fear must be reconciled and a mission’s success balances between knowing one’s limits and pushing the envelope of human endurance.

From Graham Hancock, best-selling author of Fingerprints of the Gods , comes a mesmerizing book that takes us on a captivating underwater voyage to find the ruins of a lost civilization that’s been hidden for thousands of years beneath the world’s oceans. While Graham Hancock is no stranger to stirring up heated controversy among scientific experts, his books and television documentaries have intrigued millions of people around the world and influenced many to rethink their views about the origins of human civilization. Now he returns with an explosive new work of archaeological detection. In Underworld , Hancock continues his remarkable quest underwater, where, according to almost a thousand ancient myths from every part of the globe, the ruins of a lost civilization, obliterated in a universal flood, are to be found. Guided by cutting-edge science and the latest archaeological scholarship, Hancock begins his mission to discover the truth about these myths and examines the mystery at the end of the last Ice Age. As the glaciers melted between 17,000 and 7,000 years ago, sea levels rose and more than 15 million square miles of habitable land were submerged underwater, resulting in a radical change to the Earth’s shape and the conditions in which people could live. Using the latest computer techniques to map the world’s changing coastlines, Hancock finds astonishing correspondences with the ancient flood myths. Filled with thrilling accounts of his own participation in dives off the coast of Japan, as well as in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Arabian Sea, we watch as Hancock discovers underwater ruins exactly where the myths say they should be-sunken kingdoms that archaeologists never thought existed. Fans of Hancock’s previous adventures will find themselves immersed in Underworld , a provocative book that provides both compelling hard evidence for a fascinating, forgotten episode in human history, and a completely new explanation for the origins of civilization as we know it.

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. An Amazon Best Science Book of 2014. A Scientific American Recommended Read. Deep is a voyage from the ocean’s surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving – in which competitors descend to great depths on a single breath – James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable and often hidden potential – including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater. Along the way Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world – and in ourselves.