Let's Go Diving in the Abyss

Today (June 8th) is World Oceans Day.  

If you want to learn about the oceans, one book you might consider is The Brilliant Abyss.

The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales

(from the book jacket)

A golden age of deep-sea discovery is underway.  Revolutionary studies in the deep are rewriting the very notion of life on Earth.  In the process, the abyss is being revealed as perhaps the most amazing part of our planet, with a topography even more varied and extreme than its Earthbound counterpart.  Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems worldwide.  Currently the fantastic creatures that live in the deep - many of them incandescent in a world without light - and its mountains, plains, trenches, and hydrothermal vents trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere.  Novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.

Scales gives a complete survey of the deep oceans.  She starts by introducing the reader to some very interesting creatures that live only in the very deep ocean.  There are some truly fascinating creatures, and they have some truly fascinating things that they do to be able to survive in a place that has no light, very little food, and some caustic conditions.  She goes on to explain how these deep sea habitats affect the oceans, the weather, and the climate of the entire world.  And how if these habitats are destroyed the consequences can be catastrophic in ways no one can foresee.  Then she outlines ways that these important deep sea habitats are being disturbed, by fishing, mining and pollution.  At the end I learned more about mining and rechargeable batteries than I expected (or, indeed, wanted) but the progression of the book shows how it is all related.  So it did not seem odd to start out talking about scaly footed snails and Yeti crabs and end up talking about how batteries are made.  It is a nice, readable account of all things deep sea.  From the way they are formed, to the animals that live there, to the impact of deep sea processes on people and people's impact on the deep sea.  If you have ever wondered what deep sea crabs eat, or what happens to all the plastic that is swept out to sea, or want to learn about why the things that happen so far below us are important to life on Earth this is a book worth your time.