Chased By Sea Monsters [Hardcover]

Nigel Marven (Author), Jasper James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2004

Following the hugely successful Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, DK dives into the past to swim with prehistoric reptiles and mammals in Chased by Sea Monsters. Exploring the underwater world where he "encounters" amazing creatures, Nigel Marven presents a unique record of a lost world never revealed before now.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fascinating, if somewhat unsophisticated companion volume to the Discovery Channel program showcases some of evolution's most telegenic aspects, namely size and teeth. BBC-TV producers Marven and James (who also collaborated on Walking with Dinosaurs) survey the last half-billion years of marine life to rank the "seven most deadly seas" (i. e., geological epochs) in order of the scariness of their sea creatures. Marine marauders include yard-long sea-scorpions, giant proto-squids, and the 33-foot, bone-plated, piranha-like Dunkleosteus; top honors goes to the "Hell's aquarium" of the Cretaceous Period, epitomized by the giant mosasaurs, 56-foot marine reptiles capable of leaping from the sea to spear low-flying pterodactyls. The monsters are brought vividly to life in photo-realistic computer-generated renditions, complete with the wet-suited Marven swimming alongside or peering into their maws from a flimsy shark cage to give a sense of scale and dread. The text highlights hunting techniques and feeding frenzies, but beside the grizzly details is a wealth of paleontological lore about the evolving earth. Readers follow the evolutionary arms races as the top spot in the sea-food pyramid passes from arthropods and molluscs to fish, then reptiles, then mammals; sidebars explore the background of climate change and continental drift, and cast an occasional glance at life on dry land. The book's combination of sensationalism, lurid graphics and solid scientific exposition is well judged to stimulate budding paleontologists.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Nigel Marven is one of the UK's leading wildlife television producers. He had produced and directed many wildlife films, including David Attenborough's Life of Birds, as well as Incredible Journeys and Giants. Marven was also the host of the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs specials.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (February 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756603757
• ISBN-13: 978-0756603755
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #712,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Dinosaurs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bigger, meaner and deadlier, March 9, 2004

By 

Rob Walsh (Putney, Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chased By Sea Monsters (Hardcover)

Nothing, not the carnivorous dinosaurs of the past, nor the imagined sea serpents and monsters of maritime history, nor the great white shark, salt water crocodile, killer whale and leopard seal of today can compare to the horrifying hunters of the prehistoric oceans. You will feel a lot more comfortable about going out for a swim or an afternoon boat ride knowing that such behemoths are extinct today!

The Dunkleosteus is school bus-sized armored fish with razor sharp bladed jaws for cutting through anything in its path. The mighty Liopleurodon is a true monster, largest and most powerful of the Pliosaurs. The deadly Mosasaurs where the real sea serpents of their day, and some where large enough to dispatch an adult tyrannosaur easily. The Basilosaurus, the first of the large whale species, is not a harmless plankton eater but a fearsome high speed hunter. And most frightening of all is the Megalodon, a gargantuan ancestor of the great white that makes its modern day relative look like a tuna.

If you're a paleontology buff like me or a fan of BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs series, this book is for you. The digital designs of the monsters are excellent and very well realized. And the fun-loving Nigel Marvin provides a great narrative. My only question is when does the DVD of the series come out?

Another excellent book is Sea Dragons by Richard Ellis.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chased by Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep, October 12, 2004

By 

Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Chased By Sea Monsters (Hardcover)

"Chased by Sea Monsters: PRehistoric Predators of the Deep written by Nigel Marven and Jasper James is a wonderfully illustrated book with an engaging narrative that will keep you interested in the book till the end.

The book is divided into different time frames and groups the prehistoric reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals according to when they lived. Starting the adventure with the oldest to the more recent times. The books contents is as follows:

The Ordvivian

The Devonian

The Triassic

The Jurassic

The Cretaceous

The Eocene

The Pilocene

In each of these segments or chapters you are taken on a tour of how the Earth "encounters" was in those times making for an engaging adventure tale. Wearing breathing assistance for the earlier times Nigel Maren and Jasper James takes us to the depths of some very starnge worlds, indeed. I liked the book for it's straight forward apporach of the material at hand and puts it all in a logical manner for the reader, giving the reader little clues to the relationship of the different animals written about to their respective surroundings. Thus, making for some very interesting reading. This book would be excellent for a child's reading assignment for those 10 or older, although this is not a childrens book it would be a good start to an education into what lived in the Earth's seas so long ago.

There are some interesting creatures that existed in prehistoric times, bigger, and often fiercer than dinosaurs whose exploits have inspired more terrifying legends than any other group of animals. They were all but hidden and, now, they are being revealed from their watery home that has kept them hidden from view.

"Chased by Sea Monsters" is a sequel to "Walking with Dinosaurs' and follows the same lines and the latter book, taking the reader on varoius and sundry "encounters" for and adventure of a lifetime. As I've mentioned earlier, there are illustrated boxes that describe the latest scientific evidence that led to the reconstruction of these creatures, with details of the modern sites, from New York to Egypt where water once covered the land. What I found interesting was that whales are closely related to the hippopotamus, from DNA samples and the ear bone structures, and that whales walked on land first and later evolved to marine lives.

I rated this book as a solid five stars for the excellent way that the book was written and the excellent illustrations to back up the writing making this one of the better books for the masses... it gives some techincal data but it's in a form that is easily understood.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Chased By Sea Monsters - Prehistoric Predators of the Deep"!, July 21, 2008

By 

Braydyn Niewiadomski (Anacortes, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Chased By Sea Monsters (Hardcover)

Chased By Sea Monsters - Prehistoric Predators of the Deep is the companion book to the BBC series of the same name. As in the programs, Nigel Marven is the presenter, taking us on a journey through the 7 deadliest seas of all time.

There are many photos from the series, and also plenty of new ones. Wonderful recreations of all the prehistoric creatures, they look completely real (even in the ones where Nigel is interacting with them, even holding them).

The book is written by both Nigel Marven and Jasper James. They split up the book about 50/50, although I must say it is hard to tell one from the other, so the book still flows smoothly.

The book follows the series very closely, but there are a few differences. In the series, Nigel goes through the seven deadliest seas, starting from the least and working his way up. In the book it's not the opposite, but still very different. The first chapter starts with the oldest ocean and works up to the most recent, instead of the most dangerous. I would have preferred they follow the series order, but it's only a minor complaint. Here is the books' content order; (also included are the authors of each chapter)

Foreword - Nigel Marven

Introduction - Jasper James

1. THE ORDOVICIAN - Jasper James

2. THE DEVONIAN - Nigel Marven

3. THE TRIASSIC - Nigel Marven

4. THE JURASSIC - Jasper James

5. THE CRETACEOUS - Jasper James

6. THE EOCENE - Nigel Marven

7. THE PLIOCENE - Nigel Marven

This is a very good book, and is a perfect companion to "Chased By Sea Monsters", highly recommended!