Citizens of the Sea – Nancy Knowlton
A project of the Census of Marine Life, this is the third book on the subject that I’ve read. The other two were (in increasing order of excellence) Discoveries of the Census of Marine Life and World Ocean Census. I think that this one is the best of the three, but it’s a close race with World Ocean Census. The two books have different aims, and this book is not so much about the process of census taking as its results.
Illustrated with lots of beautiful photographs, this is the sort of book one can dip into – I can even imagine reading it with my nephew when he’s old enough. Each two-page spread covers a single topic, like parasitic/symbiotic relationships, reproduction, moving about, schooling behaviour, life in the deep ocean, habitats chosen by different creatures, predation, diet, and more. There are side bars with short facts (such as, there are 30 kinds of barnacles that ONLY live on turtles), and just enough information to make one feel that you’ve learned something.
My only complaint is that the pages are black, which means that I left lots of fingerprints all over them!
I’d highly recommend this book – it’s definitely something a child with an interest in the ocean would enjoy, but it’s written for adults and the photographs of beautiful and exotic creatures from the ocean are magnificent and absorbing.
The book is available here if you’re in South Africa, otherwise click here.
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