Praise for the first edition: ‘More than a picture book … Hoyt’s elegant writing provides both the historical background for deep-sea exploration and an ecological perspective on life in the ocean’s depths.’ — American Scientist ‘A magnificent bestiary … and a reminder of how little we actually know about the seas surrounding us.’ — Popular Science Winner, Outstanding Nonfiction Book of the Year — American Society of Journalists and Authors, Inc., New York In this updated and expanded edition of Creatures of the Deep, award-winning nature and science writer Erich Hoyt gives readers a glimpse of the amazing variety of creatures found in the deepest parts of the ocean. Weaving together details from the latest scientific research about sharks, giant
squid, dragonfish, huge tube worms, clams and tiny microbes of the deep-sea vents, Hoyt embarks on a magical journey roaming across the abyssal plains and descending into deep-sea trenches more than 20, 000 feet down. Hoyt unravels the complex predator-prey relationships, from ‘killer’ copepods to battles between giant squid and sperm whales, presenting compelling portraits of animals that are superbly adapted denizens of a dark high-pressure world. There are life forms, independent of sunlight and photosynthesis, which flourish around the hot, sulfurous deep-sea vents in the magnificent rift valley of the mid-ocean ridge, the world’s longest mountain range. Surviving in conditions that appear to be close to the very soup of primordial Earth, these microbes have become the basis for the latest research into Earth’s origins. Fully illustrated with fantastic underwater imagery.
Table of Content
Author’s Note Prologue Part One Down Through the Layers The Layers of the Sea Surface Waters: The Epipelagic (Euphotic) Zone Middle Waters: The Mesopelagic (Disphotic) Zone Deep Waters: The Bathypelagic (Aphotic) Zone Deeper Waters: The Abyssopelagic Zone Deepest Waters: The Hadal Zone Part Two A Fish-Eat-Fish World Planktonic Dramas The Cosmopolitan Copepod Jellyfish: Biding Time Big Sharks: The Plankton-Strainers Dancing with Squid Big Sharks: The Flesh-Eaters Killer Whale vs. Shark Down Deep with Dragonfish The Web Part Three Trekking Down the Ridge The Longest Mountain Chain in the World The World Ocean
Floor Creatures in the Sulfur Garden Farther Along the Ridge and Back in Time Black Smokers and New Life-Forms Life Among the Archaeans Part Four Counting the Citizens of the Sea The Census of Marine Life Finding a Place for Ocean Citizens to Live Deciding on the Kind of Ocean We Want or Life Among the Jellyfish Epilogue Sources and Resources Index Photo Credits
About the author
by Erich Hoyt
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