A Global Survey of Marine Life
Author : Darlene Trew Crist et al
Publisher : Firefly Books
ISBN : 978-1-55407-434-1
Price : $ 40.00
Life on Earth sprang from the ocean and to a remarkable extent it still depends on this water body that covers 71 percent of our planet’s surface. Yet, very little of the ocean has been scientifically investigated. Started in the year 2000, Census of Marine Life ( http://www.coml.org/) is an international science research program uniting thousands of researchers worldwide with the goal of assessing and explaining the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life - past, present and future. World Ocean Census: A Global Survey of Marine Life is the only officially sanctioned book to bring the Census and its discoveries to the public.
Like the census, the book is organized by oceans past, present and future. Information dating back 500 years or more is gleaned from old whaling logs, scientific expedition records and even old restaurant menus that provide snapshots of species exploitation. When the census started, only 250,000 species were known out of the millions estimated to live in the ocean. Researchers expect to find many thousands more. The book is at its best when it offers glimpses of the astonishing array of sea creatures revealed by the survey. It includes critical data that will be studied for decades to come.
The global ocean is truly Earth’s final frontier, its myriad secrets only now being revealed. In the book, readers will learn how the mystery of new life forms are revealed, how Census research was planned and executed, how animals are tagged and tracked, and about the cutting-edge technologies that enabled this mammoth endeavor. Hundreds of breathtaking, full-color photographs plunge one deep into the ocean to see some of the millions of species — from the smallest microbes to the largest whales — that dwell beneath the waves.
This beautifully illustrated 256-page book tells the amazing inside story of several thousand scientists from more than 80 nations are attempting to To discover what lives in the oceans now. Published by Firefly Books and written by Census Education & Outreach Team members Darlene Crist, Gail Scowcroft, and James Harding, the book highlights the stories behind the Census through lively text and over 250 images, the majority graciously provided by Census scientists. The book also sets the stage for the release of the final report of Census of Marine Life which is scheduled to be in Ocober 2010.
(Book Review Text Courtesy: http://www.coml.org/, http://www.marinelife.about.com/, http://www.solutions-site.org/)
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