In Into the Great Wide Ocean: Life in the Least Known Habitat on Earth, marine biologist Sönke Johnsen deftly, humorously, lovingly combines his lifelong awe and his many discoveries delving into the deep blue seas. Johnsen's first research cruise was a "trial by fire"--the realities of seasickness, privations, indignities. Yet, so far from shore in the seemingly endless expanse, the animals proved magical. "What on earth is that?" was a common refrain.
Johnsen explores--and deciphers as plainly as possible--the often mind-boggling adaptations necessary to thrive in the pelagic portion of the ocean. Pelagic, he explains, "is everything that is not the bottom, which includes the surface and the watery world between it and sea floor." Within these pages, interspersed with wondrously intricate black-and-white line drawings by Marlin Peterson, Johnsen highlights the pelagic animals that exist "particularly in the top 1000 feet"--their buoyancy, their sight (or lack thereof), their movements and migrations, feeding, camouflaging, reproducing, and establishing relationships within and between species.
Johnsen is an amusing writer whose friendly approach to science makes Into the Great Wide Ocean read like a warm chat. --Terry Hong