The Silent Deep: The Discovery, Ecology and Conservation of the Deep Sea by Julian Anthony Koslow

Synopsis

The deep sea, closed until recently to exploration, was long dismissed as lifeless and uninteresting. Only in the last fifty years or so did the deep sea—with its Lilliputian fauna on the seafloor; its seemingly bizarre life forms at mid-ocean depths; its profusion of life at hot vents, cold seeps, and whale falls; and its coldwater corals and fisheries on seamounts and deepwater reefs—reveal itself to be a source of scientific wonderment and, indeed, the planet’s last unexplored frontier.
But just as research and exploration are rendering the briny deep accessible, a host of new threats is endangering it—the spread of trawling into the deep ocean, the buildup of humanity’s worst pollutants in deepwater life-forms, the potential consequences of climate change and ocean acidification, and the future mining of seabed minerals and methane hydrates for hydrocarbons. The Silent Deep tells the stories of discovery of the deep sea, the ecologies of its ecosystems, and of the impact of humans, highlighting the importance of global stewardship in keeping this delicate ecosystem alive and well. Written by world renowned deep-sea ecologist Tony Koslow, The Silent Deep is a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the state of the deep sea today, accessible to anyone interested in ocean science, the story of scientific discovery, and conservation of the earth’s most threatened ecosystems.

Publishers Weekly

Deep sea ecologist Koslow (a senior researcher at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) has both the breadth of knowledge and the keen insight to orchestrate this complex volume, an encyclopedic overview of 200 years' worth of oceanographic discoveries, research and resource exploitation. Organized chronologically, part one begins with ancient thinkers like Aristotle before profiling the work of pioneering oceanic naturalists of the early 19th century like Edward Forbes, Henri Milne-Edwards and (of course) Charles Darwin. The second part explores 20th-century methods for tackling the mysteries of the deep sea, including spectacular discoveries of unknown species, hydrothermal springs, methane seeps and whale falls. The third section considers the deep-reaching impact of humanity-not only through fishing, mining and dumping, but also global climate change, whose effects touch every region of the sea. This volume provides helpful information on any given seacentric query and a thorough bibliography for finding additional material. Illustrations and figures range from reproductions of early drawings to high-resolution in situ photographs startling in beauty and detail. Informative, gorgeous and extremely well-written, this title may be the only marine life reference you'll ever need. (Apr.)

Biography

Tony Koslow is Director of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California. For ten years, he led the deepwater ecology program at Australia’s CSIRO Marine Research Division, where he played a leading role in discovering the remarkable diversity of seamount coral reefs in the South Pacific at one thousand meters depth, in designing a marine reserve to protect Tasmanian seamounts, and in deepwater conservation efforts globally.