I've built a useful collection of books about sea-life in general: tropical fishes, coral reefs, etc. Like several of my different subject-collections, this one started small and then grew, til it eventually grew together with the others. Right now I have several general books about all kinds of sea-life, and an equal number of more specific books.
| Jacques Cousteau | Whales and dolphins | Other marine life | Fishermen and fishing |
The Undersea World of Jacques-Yves Cousteau
My interest in the oceans started with Jacques-Yves Cousteau's TV specials and books, and grew from there. While they're somewhat outdated now, my Cousteau books are still a big part of my library, if for no other reason that they're just fascinating and fun to read.
THE SILENT WORLD*
Cousteau, J-Y & Frederic Dumas
c.1953, Harper & Brothers
ISBN:
I think this is the best book to start with, mainly because it's the first book Cousteau wrote. It covers his early diving experiences: skin-diving in the Mediterranean during the German occupation of France, the invention of the AquaLung, his first attempts at ocean research, cave diving, and more. Cousteau's attitude is made clear from the start by his writing style and tone: he was never a scientist, he was an explorer and adventurer.
THE LIVING SEA*
Cousteau, J-Y & James Dugan
c.1963, Harper & Row
ISBN:
This is Cousteau's second book, about his experiences in the ten years or so after the war. It describes the origin of his famous research vessel the Calypso, his first research group, diving in the Red Sea, shipwrecks, and the development of the Diving Saucer DS-2, the world's first fully mobile undersea research submersible. It also includes accounts of the first ocean-floor photography and a deepwater dive in the dirigible-like submersible called a bathyscaphe. Particularly interesting is the account of an extensive salvage project on an ancient Roman cargo ship which struck an island and sank in the third century BC.
WORLD WITHOUT SUN*
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves
c.1965, Harper & Row
ISBN:
The Conshelf (CONtinental SHELF) series of experiments was an attempt to discover if men could live and work in undersea habitats or colonies located on the continental shelves, within one or two hundred feet of the surface. There were a total of three Conshelf projects before enthusiasm (and funding) for the idea dried up in the late 1960s. This book is Cousteau's firsthand account of the Conshelf Two project, in which two men lived in an underwater habitat for a week. Cousteau was not one of the 'aquanauts,' but he and Calypso were directly involved in the whole experiment.
In the early 1970s, Cousteau wrote a series of books with several different co-authors, all under the collective title "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau." They're all similar in appearance: large hardcover or trade-paperback books full of excellent photographs and Cousteau's stories of encounters with marine life. Sadly, all of them are long out of print. I have a few of these, and wish I had several more.
DIVING COMPANIONS: SEA LION, ELEPHANT SEAL, WALRUS*
Cousteau, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1974, Doubleday
ISBN: 0-89104-078-1
This is a collection of three more or less separate stories, linked by the common theme that all three concern Cousteau's experiences with pinnipeds. One section talks about elephant seals, another about walruses. The third deals with sea-lions, and is mainly a description of the Calypso crew's experiences with a pair of young captive-raised sea lions which they attempted to make into companions for the ship and its divers.
DIVING FOR SUNKEN TREASURE*
Cousteau, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1971, Doubleday
ISBN:
Some of Cousteau's accounts of diving on shipwrecks looking for treasure. Cousteau was no more a treasure-hunter than he was a scientist; he was an explorer for whom the thrill of discovery was what mattered. His "search for sunken treasure" is actually the basis for an exploration of an ancient treasure ship and of the time of the treasure ships, which was also the time of pirates and privateers.
DOLPHINS
Cousteau, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1975, Doubleday
ISBN: 0-385-00015-4
A look at the various dolphins and porpoises of the world, both salt- and fresh-water. I think this works well as a companion to THE WHALE: MIGHTY MONARCH OF THE SEA, and doesn't work nearly as well on its own. If you try to get one, you should try to get both.
LIFE AND DEATH IN A CORAL SEA*
Cousteau, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1971, Doubleday
ISBN: 0-81-9104-089-7
This is one of the better ones in the series, I think, though that may because it's also the first one I got, as a gift many years ago. It describes Calypso's explorations of Red Sea and Indian Ocean coral reefs in the late 1960s, including places in the Seychelles island cluster. It also includes some fascinating material about Calypso's deep-diving technology: the small minisubs known as Sea Fleas and the heliox (helium-oxygen) method for letting free divers go deeper than the usual compressed-air diving limit of about 250 feet.
OCTOPUS AND SQUID: THE SOFT INTELLIGENCE*
Cousteai, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1973, Doubleday
ISBN: 0-89104-111-7
Also one of my favorites, this book talks about the weird creatures called cephalopods: octopus, squid, cuttlefish, deepwater squids, etc. Cousteau pays special attention to the amazing camouflage abilities of octopus and cuttlefish, made possible by their phenomenal ability to change color drastically. Among other things, Cousteau also describes several experiments that indicate a possibility of advanced intelligence in some types of octopus.
THE SHARK: SPLENDID SAVAGE OF THE SEAS*
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves and Philippe
c.1970, Doubleday
ISBN:
Cousteau's look at sharks of all kinds, with the usual quality information and superb photographs. Several pages are spent talking about a rare encounter with a whale shark, the largest of all living fishes. A lot has been learned about sharks in the last thirty years, so this book is a bit more outdated than most others in the series.
THE WHALE: MIGHTY MONARCH OF THE SEA
Cousteau, J-Y & Philippe Diole
c.1972, Doubleday
ISBN: 0-89104-077-3
The Calypso's encounters with several kinds of great whales: blue, fin, sei, humpback, sperm. Despite trying with several different methods, the Calypso crew doesn't seem to have had much luck tagging and tracking great whales at this time (the mid 1970s). It would take much better and more compact technology to allow that.
Cousteau wrote several other books that weren't part of his "Undersea Discoveries" series.
JACQUES COUSTEAU: WHALES
Cousteau and Paccalet
c.1986, Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 0-8109-1046-2
Don't be fooled by the title -- this is not the same book as THE WHALE, listed above. This is a much more recent and up-to-date book on whales, written in a very different way and to a different audience.
THE OCEAN WORLD
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves
c.1979, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
ISBN: 0-8109-8068-1
An encyclopedic look at life in the sea. Most of it is organized into detailed treatments of different topics about sea life: the search for food, shelter, mates, coloration, etc. Somewhat outdated now, and some of the text is colored by Cousteau's personal beliefs and opinions, but still a very good book. I think that just the photographs make it worth having -- they're as good as any you'll ever see of underwater life.
Whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals
One subject I got interested in a long time ago was whales and dolphins. I don't know why -- maybe it's just their size and grace, or perhaps that they seem to be genuinely intelligent creatures. Whatever the reason, I'm interested, so I have a number of books about them. Some are already listed under the Cousteau books; others are listed here:
OBSERVATIONS: THE HUMPBACK WHALES OF STELLWAGEN BANK
Weinrich, Mason T.
c.1983, Whale Research Press
ISBN:
Stellwagen Bank is a huge area of shallow water off the New England coast which hosts an equally huge array of marine life. Rich in herring and other small fishes, Stellwagen is a favored summer home for a population of humpback whales and a favorite for tourist whale-watching trips. This book is a survey of the Stellwagen humpbacks: their biology and lifestyle, individual life-histories on many of the identified humpbacks, and information on other Stellwagen whales.
WHALES, DOLPHINS & PORPOISES
various
c.1995, National Geographic Society
ISBN: 0-7922-2952-5
This is a pretty thorough general look at whales and dolphins, published by the National Geographic Society. As often happens with the NGS, the text isn't the best, but the photographs are awesome.
WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES
various
c.1988, Facts on File
ISBN: 0-8160-1977-0
An encyclopedic examination of the Cetacea, with profiles of all known living species and a look at their evolutionary history. This was recently revised into a second edition. If you need information on whales and can only get one book, this is the one to get.
THE WORLD'S WHALES
Minasian, Balcomb, Foster
c.1984, Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 0-89599-014-8
Another general encyclopedia type book about whales and dolphins, this one published by the Smithsonian Instititution.
WHALES, PORPOISES, AND SEALS FROM CAPE COD TO NEWFOUNDLAND
Katona, Rough, Richardson
c. 1993, Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1-56098-333-7
This is a field guide to cetaceans of the North American coast from New England to Newfoundland. Personally, I think it's a bit large to be a practical field guide, so I've listed it here rather than on my Field Guides page. It lists all the species of whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea-lions you might see while traveling in the coastal waters of northeastern North America.
I have a variety of other books about the seas and ocean life.
THE BOOK OF SHARKS
Ellis, Richard
c.1976, Grosset & Dunlap
ISBN: 0-448-12457-2
THE CORAL REEF AT NIGHT
Levine, Joseph and Rotman, Jeffrey
c. 1993, Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 0-8109-3190-7
A collection of photographs and text about the world of a coral reef after dark.
COUSTEAU'S GREAT WHITE SHARK
Cousteau, Jean-Michel and Richards, Mose
c. 1992, The Cousteau Society
ISBN: 0-8109-3181-8
A collection of information about the great white shark, with a wide variety of photos and illustrations. This was written by Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
EXPLORING THE DEEP FRONTIER: THE ADVENTURE OF MAN IN THE SEA
Earle and Giddings
c.1980, National Geographic Society
ISBN: 0-87044-343-7
A look at the history of man's explorations of the deep sea, done as only National Geographic can do it.
FIRE UNDER THE SEA
Cone, Joseph
c.1991, William Morrow
ISBN: 0-688-09834-7
A look at the discovery of deep-sea volcanic hot water vents and the strange lifeforms they support. These "hot smoker" vent fields were completely unknown before 1979, yet they harbor some of the most fascinating lifeforms in the oceans. Some scientists even think that hot-smoker vents may have been where life first developed on Earth.
KILLERS OF THE SEA
Ricciuti, Edward
c.1973, Walker and Company
ISBN: 0-8027-0415-8
A general look at marine predators: toothed whales, sharks, etc.
MARINE LIFE: AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INVERTEBRATES IN THE SEA
George, David and Jennifer
c.1979, Wiley
ISBN: 0-471-05675-8
A comprehensive examination of taxonomy and physiology of living marine invertebrates.
SEA TURTLES
Ripple, Jeff
c.1996, Voyageur Press
ISBN: 0-89658-315-5
SEASHORE LIFE BETWEEN THE TIDES
Crowder, William
c.1975, Dover Book
ISBN: 0-486-23221-2
A look at the lifeforms which live on beaches and shores between the low-tide and high-tide marks.
Finally, I have a few books about fishermen and others who make their living on and from the sea. One thing I've found when I read some of these books is that there's an amazing amount of misinformation around about fishing as a business and as a way of life.
BEAUTIFUL SWIMMERS: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay
Warner, William
c.1976, Atlantic Monthly
ISBN: 0-316-92326-5
THE HUNGRY OCEAN
Greenlaw, Linda
c. 1999, Hyperion Books
ISBN: 0-7868-8541-6
Swordboats are boats that do longline fishing for swordfish in the deep waters just off the continental shelf. Linda Greenlaw is an experienced, veteran swordboat captain out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. For many years she was captain of the Hannah Boden, and widely considered one of the best swordboat skippers in the Gloucester fleet. A mention of her in Sebastian Junger's book The Perfect Storm brought her unlooked-for fame, and also inspired her to write this book. It's an account of an ordinary swordfishing trip aboard her boat, both the good and the bad aspects.
