Customer Reviews

Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds And Selected Fishes

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I work for a West Coast marine lab and I purchased this both for my work and for my own enjoyment. Twenty years in the making, there is nothing close to this in terms of illustrated guides for the region. Being that I work in the lesser known of the invertebrates, I was glad to see that the minor phyla are paid just as much attention to as the more common ones. I showed my copy around the lab, which led at least four more copies to be purchased. Upon opening the cover and flipping to any page, the first-time reader is speechless at the quality of the photos and the overall organization of the work. Yes, reference books like these are a bit more expensive than the everyday field guide, but this has so much more: Common name, scientific name (and limited synonymy), distribution, special remarks on each species... Very recommended!

Enhanced with 1,700 superb color photographs, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia Of Invertebrates, Seaweeds And Selected Fishes by Andy Lamb (Marine naturalist and educator) features the photography from Bernard P. Hanby (recipient of the Vancouver Natural History Society's 2003 Davidson Award for Conservation) and is an impressively thorough collection of the majestic ocean life associated with the Pacific Northwest. Featuring a "user friendly" and alphabetically organized listing of diverse fish, seaweed and invertebrate aquatic life, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest offers a comprehensive compendium of more than 1,400 saltwater plants and animals, and includes a quick reference usability with guide, maps, glossary, index, and color-coded pages for easy information access and identification, as well as entries that include the common name, scientific name, size, range, depth, description, picture, description and comments, and more. A core reference work for professional and academic library reference collections, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest is very strongly recommended for all marine-savvy explorers of the Pacific Northwest area.

This book is one of the most amazing publishing accomplishments I have seen. The authors and their friends have accumulated 1700 superb photographs of marine life, especially the tiny and obscure invertebrates that almost no one has even seen or suspected, let alone photographed. (Where else are you going to find photos of neon sea-fleas and parasitic copepods in the wild?) Many of the animals herein are not even described scientifically. I studied fisheries development for years and thought I knew something about marine life, but I never knew there were so many worms and snails and tunicates out there, let alone did I ever see them or photos of them. Everyone interested in nature or biology should have this book, or at least look at it, just to see what amazing things there are in the world. It is of interest far beyond the narrow confines of Northwest Coast shores.

so I'm no expert on marine life, but I'm very interested in the subject. I got this book and had high expectations that were more than met. The photography is excellent, the organization is excellent, and the contents extensive. I really like how they tell you both the common and the scientific names, and how they have some short descriptions of behaviors or charactoristics. I actually got it for my boyfriend because he wants to study to be a marine biologist and i saw the other reviews by people who were in related fields, and they made it sound like a book that would be useful even to an expert but not only useful to an expert. And it is. He loves the book (says its one of the best gifts he has ever gotten) and was very impressed by the quality of the contents, he uses it all the time. Bottom line the book is awesome i would reccommend it to ANYONE who loves ocean life.

This book is a blessing for us tidepool/beach explorers in the Pacific Northwest because of its wonderful, clear photographs. It saves us many hours of tedious and frustrating puzzling over technical jargon trying to figure out the identity of whatever amazing creature has captured our hearts. The volunteers at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington have already practically worn out their first copy from looking up critters and plants that show up in the tanks via the flow-through seawater system. Many mysteries have been solved, and many fascinating tidbits of natural history gleaned to share with the visitors to the exhibits. Books like this will open the eyes of a society blind to our own environment, like the Peterson guides did a couple generations ago.
All praises and cliches apply: "a picture is worth a thousand words", "greatly needed and long over-do"... Consider this a definite rave review for a timely book. Now all we need is a waterproof edition!

This book is wonderful! I just recently got certified and am diving alot! This books helps me to identify all the wonderful creatures I am encountering in the waters of the Pacific Northwest! The photos are amazing and with detailed descriptions its not hard to figure out where to look for interesting underwater animals! I use this book weekly to help me make notes in my dive log after each dive. I highly recomend this book if you are a diver! I actually just Identified a Pacific Spiney Lumpsucker on my dive today, using this book! My Dive buddy and I saw two during our dive, apparently quite a rare treat from what I have heard! I whole heartedly want to thank the authors and photographers who took the time to publish this book!

I love this book. This book is ideal for mainly scuba divers (or snorkelers) and those who are interested in local marine wildlife.

This book is thorough, with images (sometimes two) to go with each animal. The authors included almost every possible animal in the pacific northwest. It's quite easy to identify animals seen.

My only complaints are not important ones. 1. 40 pages on seaweed?!?!?!?!? 2. While the organization is good, I feel it could improve with some pop-up bookmarks for each section. I did put some in myself, though.

I have a few other books & each has it's specific application but this one comes in real handy when I find something new & need some help ID'ing it. I recomend any diver with even the slightest interest in critters to pick this book up & add it to their personal library.

If you are looking for a reference book for identifying inter and sub-tidal life in the Pacific Northwest, this is the book for you. Beautifully illustrated and comprehensive, it allows the reader to explore a world at once easily accessible and at the same time full of mystery. The photography is outstanding, making identification of marine organisms easier and more accurate. When combined with further study and instruction, it offers a glimpse into a complex and fascinating world seldom explored.

This book is truly stunning masterpiece, very nicely organized with lots of great photos. I highly recommend this to anybody and everybody who even tries scuba diving on the west coast (I dive every week in Monterey, CA).

I have two small issues...

1. the book arrived with small damage on the back cover. The package was very nice and the book could not be damaged during shipping. Amazon should do a bit better QA before they ship the books.

2. the book is really great however the format is more "coffee table style" - hard cover with sleeve. It makes it virtually impossible to take it with me for my dive trips and look into it right after diving without damaging it. I wish there would be next to this version also softcover version with easy to flip pages divers and nature lovers could take to the field. Probably the best would be Kindle version I could take on my smartphone with me :-)