The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss

Natural History, Dec, 2007 by Laurence A. Marschall

The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss by Claire Nouvian (The University of Chicago Press; $45.00)

Oceanic Wilderness by Roger Steene (Firefly Books; $59.95)

Until twenty-five years ago, the deep sea was virgin territory to biologists, and even today virtually every research dive into the abyss turns up a profusion of previously unknown species. In The Deep, journalist Claire Nouvian has assembled a portrait gallery of these exotic creatures, accompanied by eloquent essays by more than a dozen ocean scientists. The denizens of the deep are so bizarre they seem to have been sculpted by Salvador Dali on acid. Fish with skeletal heads and protruding fangs glower into the camera, some with lower teeth so long that a reckless bite could take out their own eyeballs. Smooth-skinned octopuses float in the blackness, resembling embryos attached to bundles of wormlike tentacles. Other creatures look like ball-point pens, paper lanterns, baby's buttocks, and Pokemon cartoon figures, while the spooky vampire squid reminded me of a bat's head grafted onto the webbed foot of a duck. Since only a few percent of the ocean's depths have so far been explored, one can hardly imagine what phantasms of this remarkable bestiary the next edition will display.

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Underwater photographer Roger Steene frequents shallower waters in and around coral reefs throughout the world. In Oceanic Wilderness he records underwater scenes few of us have the resources, skill, or patience to behold, rendered with a startling sharpness and brilliance. In one picture a rainbow mantis displays so many colors it looks as if it is wearing a clown costume; even its huge goggle eyes are purple. Elsewhere, collages of close-ups highlight the kaleidoscopic patterns of markings on sponges, sea urchins, and corals. Most remarkable is a series of pictures showing the tender embraces of tropical fish making love (how did he get those shots?). All in all, this collection of undersea glamour is a pleasant foil to the nightmarish vision of The Deep.

LAURENCE A. MARSCHALL, author of The Supernova Story, is W.K.T. Sahm Professor of Physics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, and director of Project CLEA, which produces widely used simulation software for education in astronomy.