Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #335193 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-06
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .69" h x 9.41" w x 11.33" l, 2.44 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.ca
The English word "monster," writes marine conservationist Erich Hoyt, means, at heart, "a creature having a strange or frightening appearance." The world’s oceans are full of such creatures, but the association with the ghoulish and terrifying is unfortunate, and Hoyt's mission in this book is to make the denizens of the benthic deep less frightening and more familiar. More than a checklist of misnamed creatures like the goblin shark (which, living at a depth of 1,200 metres, is no danger to humans), the bloody-belly ctenophore, the killer whale, and the vampire squid ("dangerous only to its prey"), this lively book takes readers on a learned tour of the oceans' varied environments, from coastal shallows to deep-sea floor. Along the way, Hoyt discusses how various creatures have evolved to take advantage of these many ecosystems, how oceanic vents may harbour the secret of life, how sea currents regulate the world’s atmosphere--and how movies such as Deep Blue Sea use bad science to demonize sharks and other pelagic predators. In the end, Hoyt always returns to these strange creatures, always with the hope that "this introduction to the deep will turn a few more sea monsters into sea friends." This handsomely illustrated book does just that. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Science and nature writer Erich Hoyt (Orca: The Whale Called Killer; The Earth Dwellers) combines dramatic photographs with extraordinary tales of undersea life in Creatures of the Deep: In Search of the Sea's "Monsters" and the World They Live In. No sea bass here: Hoyt prefers the creepier populations of bloody belly ctenophores, vampire squid, sea cucumbers and dragonfish. From the surface-dwelling manta ray to the marine spider of the hadal zone (appropriately named for Hades), Hoyt describes life cycles and family trees of marine flora and fauna, as well as the scientific community's efforts to understand them. Startling facts abound, and Hoyt's enthusiasm for his subject shows on every page.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A senior research associate with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in the United Kingdom, Hoyt (The Earth Dwellers) here shares his enthusiasm for and knowledge about the extraordinary creatures of the deep sea. His style is both clear and picturesque, and his captions to the full-color photos are fact-packed. Part 1 of the book covers the layers of the sea, describing the animal life at each depth. Parts 2 and 3 discuss the fish and other marine creatures, as characterized by some of their unique features, such as bioluminescence, size, shape, or location in the sea. With light humor, Hoyt writes, for example, that "dinoflagellates [protozoan of the phyllum Pyrrophyta] can be more dangerous than sharks, but Hollywood has yet to cast dinoflagellates as a lethal killing machine, so they remain unexploited, doing their nasty business in relative obscurity." Other books in the same genre include two by Richard Ellis: Monsters of the Sea (LJ 11/1/94) and Deep Atlantic (LJ 10/1/96). But the work that compares most readily with Hoyt's is Jacques Cousteau: Whales (LJ 12/88) for its knowledgeable and accessible approach to marine life and high-quality photography. Hoyt's latest is recommended for all general collections. Mary Nickum, Lakewood, CO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.