At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans [Hardback]

"This book follows nine different places in the ocean, from close and accessible to remote and forbidding: tidepools, coral reefs, shellfish farms, kelp forests, a fishing area in the North Atlantic, remote islands of the Pacific, the North Pacific Garbage Patch, the deep sea, and finally the Arctic and Antarctic poles. In each place, the authors delve into the science of how we understand the ocean, and the history of the human connection to these special places. Together, these nine places allow Hill and Simons to explore the breadth of human knowledge about the sea, offering us entry points for better understanding multiple patterns of observation and different fields of science. Each chapter centers on a couple or a few ocean scientists who study theparticular ocean area. These researchers have a relationship to the ocean that has shifted drastically in the last few years as they have become witnesses to its most radical change in human history. The ocean has other key observers too, who are also part of this story: Indigenous people who have tried to maintain their relationship with the sea through centuries of human and environmental mistreatment; shellfish farmers and fishermen who earn their living on the water; and finally, sailors and citizen scientists whose connection has been forged over countless hours spent in the swirling embrace of the ocean"--

The world’s oceans are changing at a drastic pace. Beneath the waves and along the coasts, climate change and environmental degradation have spurred the most radical transformations in human history. In response, the people who know the ocean most intimately are taking action for the sake of our shared future. Community scientists track species in California tidepools. Researchers dive into the waters around Sydney to replant kelp forests. Scientists and First Nations communities collaborate to restore clam gardens in the Pacific Northwest.

In At Every Depth, the oceanographer Tessa Hill and the science journalist Eric Simons profile these and other efforts to understand and protect marine environments, taking readers to habitats from shallow tidepools to the deep sea. They delve into the many human connections to the ocean—how people live with and make their living from the waters—journeying to places as far-flung as coral reefs, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Arctic and Antarctic poles. At Every Depth shares the stories of people from all walks of life, including scientists, coastal community members, Indigenous people, shellfish farmers, and fisheries workers. It brings together varied viewpoints, showing how scientists’ research and local and Indigenous knowledge can complement each other to inform a more sustainable future. Poignantly written and grounded in science, this book offers a narrative perspective on the changing oceans, letting us see how our relationships to the oceans are changing too.

The oceanographer Tessa Hill and the science journalist Eric Simons profile efforts to understand and protect marine environments, taking readers to habitats from shallow tidepools to the deep sea.