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Th e o f t h e
S C I E N C E
O C E A N
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First published in Great Britain in 2020 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens,
London SW11 7BW
DK LONDON Copyright © 2020 Dorling Kindersley Limited
A Penguin Random House Company
Senior Editor Peter Frances Senior Art Editor Duncan Turner 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Editors Polly Boyd, Jemima Dunne, Designers Francis Wong, Simon Murrell 001–316839–Oct/2020
Cathy Meeus, Annie Moss, Photographer Gary Ombler
Steve Setford, Kate Taylor Illustrator Phil Gamble
Managing Editor Angeles Gavira Guerrero Senior Jacket Designer Akiko Kato All rights reserved.
Production Editor Kavita Varma Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
Production Controller Meskerem Berhane Managing Art Editor Michael Duffy a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler Art Director Karen Self mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf Design Director Phil Ormerod
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2414-1525-2
Printed and bound in China
FOR THE CURIOUS
www.dk.com
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Contributors Consultant
Jamie Ambrose is an author, editor, and Fulbright scholar with a special interest Marine ecologist, author, and television presenter Maya Plass is Head of
in natural history. Her books include DK’s Wildlife of the World and The Science Communications at the Marine Biological Association, UK, and an honorary
of Animals. fellow of the British Naturalists’ Association.
Dr Amy-Jane Beer is a biologist and naturalist. She began her career studying sea urchin
development at the University of London before becoming a freelance science and
nature writer and an advocate for wildlife and the natural world.
Derek Harvey is a naturalist with a particular interest in evolutionary biology,
who studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool. His books include DK’s Science:
The Natural History Museum, London, looks after a world-class collection of over 80 million
The Definitive Visual Guide, The Natural History Book, and The Science of Animals.
specimens spanning 4.6 billion years, from the formation of the Solar System to the present
day. It is also a leading scientific research institution, with ground-breaking projects in more
Dr Francis Dipper is a marine biologist and author and has been studying marine wildlife
than 68 countries. Over 300 scientists work at the Museum, researching the valuable collections
on the seashore and underwater, worldwide, for over 40 years. She has written numerous
to better understand life on Earth. Every year more than five million visitors, of all ages and
books for both children and adults. Her Guide to the Oceans won the Royal Society Aventis
levels of interest, are welcomed through the Museum’s doors.
Prize for Junior Science Books in 2003.
Esther Ripley is a former managing editor who writes on a range of cultural
subjects, including art and literature.
Half-title page Pale octopus (Octopus pallidus)
Dorrik Stow has a long career of research and publication on the oceans. He is Professor Title page Giant devil rays (Mobula mobular)
of Geoscience at the Institute of Geo-Energy Engineering Heriot-Watt University, UK, and Above School of barracuda (Sphyraena) in the Red Sea
Distinguished Professor at the China University of Geoscience, Wuhan, China. Contents page Flower hat jellyfish (Olindias formosus)
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contents
marine world rocky coasts sandy beaches
12 what are oceans? 22 surviving in the splash zone 62 growing in wind-blown sand
14 ocean history 24 anchoring to the seabed 64 lifelike seas
16 ocean climates 26 coastal erosion 66 nesting on beaches
18 ocean depths 28 growing above the tides 68 beaches and dunes
30 surviving low tide 70 drama on the seas
32 from coast to coast 72 american crocodile
34 rasping rocks 74 beachcombing
36 clinging on 76 tsunamis
38 combing for plankton
40 lodging in a shell
42 waves
44 fish on land
46 fish shapes
48 rock pool territory
50 cold-blooded diving
52 seas of colour
54 cliff nesting
56 northern gannet
58 hopping on rocks
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estuaries and mudflats coral reefs coastal seas open oceans
80 living in sediment 124 simple bodies 186 absorbing light 256 dividing labour
82 tides 126 making rock 188 giant kelp 258 phytoplankton
84 seabed stinger 128 synchronizing spawn 190 underwater meadows 260 staying afloat
86 concealed danger 130 horny skeleton 192 producing light 262 sustaining life in the dark
88 sensing electricity 132 living in a colony 194 alternating generations 264 new ocean floor
90 migrating to breed 134 corals 196 asia’s sea deities 266 deepwater giants
92 mud probing 136 powered by sunlight 198 living in a tube 268 branching arms
94 the dutch golden age 138 stinging for prey 200 stinging bristles 270 jellyfish and hydrozoans
96 sweeping for food 140 coral reefs 202 flapping to swim 272 filter-feeding sharks
98 fishing with feet 142 blooming with poison 204 changing buoyancy 274 ocean currents
144 fanning the water 206 hurricanes and typhoons 276 white shark
146 giant clams 208 jet propulsion 278 slow giant
mangroves and
148 collecting weaponry 210 nudibranchs 280 mapping the seas
salt marshes
150 changing colour 212 heavy bodies 282 lights in the dark
152 art meets science 214 suspension feeding 284 built for speed
102 growing in salt marshes 154 cleaning hosts 216 the great wave 286 wandering albatross
104 colonizing roots 156 making a mask 218 walking with arms 288 bulk feeding
106 growing on stilts 158 seabed feeding 220 tube feet 290 destruction of the oceans
108 living upside-down 160 blue under water 222 starfish 292 orca
110 living fossil 162 inflatable bodies 224 spiny skin
112 salt water 164 aboriginal sea stories 226 scalloped hammerhead shark
polar oceans
114 waving crabs 166 mutual protection 228 flying under water
116 hunting above water 168 sex changer 230 swim bladders
118 impressions of the sea 170 reef feeders 232 keeping out of sight 296 sea butterfly
120 adapting to changing salinity 172 bladed fish 234 sea-level change 298 sea-ice
174 reef fish 236 all-over senses 300 polar swarms
176 cryptic fish 238 migrating in schools 302 antifreeze in fish
178 specialized fins 240 great frigatebird 304 zooplankton
180 seas of antiquity 242 plunge diving 306 king penguin
182 reef scrapers 244 sea otter 308 insulating layers
246 grazing on grass 310 southern elephant seal
248 humpback whale 312 sensitive whiskers
250 upwelling and downwelling 314 ice-shelves and icebergs
252 atlantic spotted dolphin 316 multipurpose fur
318 narwhal
320 glossary
326 index
334 acknowledgments
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foreword
We manifest an intrinsic fascination with those things on the brink of our
knowledge. There’s a romance, a yearning, seemingly a need to wonder
about things beyond our reach. Deep space, other planets, aliens … but, as is
often cited, we may actually know more about these phenomena than
about the inhabitants of our own oceans because 80 per cent of them are
unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored for the so very simple reason that
this environment is beyond your reach and mine. We are terrestrial, air-
breathing mammals, and while some humans swim well, free dive, or use
increasingly sophisticated scuba kit or robots to explore the oceanic unknown,
the rest of us “land lubbers” just watch the waves.
Beneath those waves is another world, one that, thanks to science and
technology, we are learning a lot more about, a lot more quickly. And, as this
fabulous book shows, it is almost incomprehensibly beautiful and fantastic.
From the smallest to the largest, the shallows to the deep, the fierce to the
fearful, these organisms share our planet but live in a different dimension.
How exciting!
So here is an opportunity to meet the neighbours, the “wet ones,” the
extraordinary diversity of miraculous life that has evolved in the oceans. And
yet, remote as it can seem, the cultural aspects of our relationship with the
sea reveal how we have always had a close connection to this charismatic,
dangerous, and rewarding realm. But the tides have turned. Now we are the
greater danger, and no drop of our seas is secure. Coral reefs are bleached.
Plastic litters the greatest depths and fills the bellies of turtles and whales and
chokes albatross chicks. The acidification of the water, pollution, and
overfishing threaten the entire ocean ecosystem. There has never been a
more important time to immerse ourselves in the wonder of the briny world
and thus learn to love and protect it. Dive in, swim among stranger things,
and then stand up for our oceans.
CHRIS PACKHAM
NATURALIST, BROADCASTER,
AUTHOR, AND PHOTOGRAPHER
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SILKY, DUSKY, BLACK-TIP, AND GALAPAGOS SHARKS FEED WITH YELLOWFIN TUNA AND RAINBOW RUNNERS ON A SHOAL OF SCAD
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marine
the
world
Almost as old as Earth itself, oceans
dominate the planet’s surface. Life first
evolved in the oceans, and today they are
home to a vast diversity of species. By
transporting huge amounts of energy, the
oceans also help to power and modify
Earth’s climates.
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