Customer Reviews

Creatures of the Deep: In search of the sea's 'monsters' and the world they live in

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fascinating, compelling book with a lot of truly phenomenal photography throughout. I love deep-sea beasties - they please my aesthetic taste - spiky, fangy, bizarre and... bioluminescent. Hmm. The writing is clear, concise and evocative - an 'easy' read without being simplistic or dumbed-down. Overall, an excellent trip into a world here and not-here. Highly recommended.

I sat with this book for 4 solid hours, in aew. Packed with incredible photos of creatures so bizarre that you couldn't invent anything even close to this reality. Hoyt explains the layers of the sea and what lives there, why and how each atmosphere creates and hosts it's own World. It tells in plain language how these creatures live, eat and reproduce and find each other in the pitch black. It's rare to find a book who's text and visual offerings are equally astounding and educational. I came away with a feeling that all I thought I knew about the sea and life on Earth had just been rewritten for me. This book is a genuine treat and a glimpse into all the possibilites of Life in our "not human" terms.

The deep sea is considered the last place on Earth that is relatively untouched and unexplored by man. As such, the last 20 years have witnessed an explosion in the number of books, movies (think IMAX), documentaries (Discovery Channel) and other lay-man oriented exposes on the deep sea. This book fits right in with that trend, and serves as a good introduction to the biology of the deep sea.

The book describes the different zones of the ocean, how each is uniquely different from the others, and how they interact with each other. The book then focuses on the deep sea, that layer of water that extends from 2 miles below the surface to the very sea-bottom. The emphasis is on the different animals that live in this part of the sea, such as anglerfish, viperfish, certain types of sharks, the denizens around undersea hot vents, etc... There is also discussion of life cycles, the ocean geography, currents, and the food chain.

The book itself is quite interesting to read, or just to flip through. The photos of the various deep-sea animals are quite impressive, and in color of course. The text itself is appropriate for anyone with at least a high school education. The entire book can be read in one sitting, the level of science is appropriate for high-school seniors, and the pages are well laid out with pictures interspersed within the text.

Excepting the color photographs, the book itself is not much better than previous texts in this same topic. I do recommend it for reading though, as it is enjoyable and educational at the same time.

Well written book that explores the creatures that live in the dark deep in the ocean! This book is the closest you can get to the creepy creatures without getting wet.

This book was in perfect condition and wrapped in clear plastic to keep it perfect during shipping. Prompt delivery and happy customer.

I was disappointed in the paucity of photos of the "deep" There was at least the same amount of shark and squid reporting as fish. I'm returning this book and ordering another that I hope will have more photos of all the wonderful biolumenescens that is in the deep ocean.

I sat with this book for 4 solid hours, in aew. Packed with incredible photos of creatures so bizarre that you couldn't invent anything even close to this reality. Hoyt explains the layers of the sea and what lives there, why and how each atmosphere creates and hosts it's own World. It tells in plain language how these creatures live, eat and reproduce and find each other in the pitch black. It's rare to find a book who's text and visual offerings are equally astounding and educational. I came away with a feeling that all I thought I knew about the sea and life on Earth had just been rewritten for me. This book is a genuine treat and a glimpse into all the possibilites of Life in our "not human" terms.

Great book - pictures are incredible!