 |
A
YEAR ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
A Story of Corals and
of the Greatest of Their Creations.
C.M.Yonge.
First published November
1930 by Putnam, London and New York. Reprint March 1931.
Hardcover, embossed title
in gold on cover, and spine; 246 pages, maps, index, over one hundred
excellent photographs, diagrams and drawings. The author was the leader
of an expedition to the Great Barrier Reef in 1928-29. I am not sure how
valuable is the information provided in view of more recent works on the
marine life of the Great barrier Reef. The turtle cannery on Heron island
is described in some detail. A dozen or so shipwrecks are listed
in brief detail, including the Quetta, Cooma and Yongala.
One of the great books on
the GBR. Chapters include Historical Background; Low Isles; the Reef amnd
Mangrove; Reef builders and Reef Destroyers; Experiments on Corals and
Other Reef Animals; the Reefs from Cairns to Cape Melville; Thursday Island
and Pearling; the Capricorn Group (that includes Heron Island); Profit
and Loss from the Barrier; the Isle of the Pacific. [pjs] |
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A
CORAL REEF HANDBOOK
A Guide to the Fauna, Flora
and Geology of Heron Island and Adjacent Reefs and Cays.
Edited by Patricia Mather
and Isobel Bennett.
Handbook Series One. Published
by The Australian Coral Reef Society incoprorating the Great Barrier Reef
Committee. Brisbane, Australia 1984.
A4 size, perfect bound softcover,
144 gloss pages, mono and colour photographs, extensive references.
An academic threatise covering
the flora and fauna one of the very few habitable islands actually within
the Great Barrier Reef. Covers history of the island (it once slaughtered
and canned turtles); Habitats,; Geomorphology; Algae, all relevant
Orders and Phylum; Fishes, reptiles and snakes, turtles, birds, plants.
An excellent reference. |
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AUSTRALIA'S CORAL REALM
Wonders of Sea,
Reef and Shore. Also advertised as The Wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.
Charles Barrett.
Published by Robertson and
Mullens, Melbourne 1943.
Softcoverr, 48 pages, 32
mono photographs. Thin board covers have a folded over fly and extend beyond
the text pages,
'Price Two Shillings and
Sixpence'.That was not an insignificant amount in its day. The book appears
to be part of a series 'To Know and Understand Australia'; it is extremely
informative and would have fulfiulled its role in th series admirably.
Chapters include Treasures of the TropicsReef Builders and their Kin, Coral
Varieties, Life Among the Coral, The Great Barrier Reef and its Islands.
Of particular interest to us divers is just the one page showing a photograph
of a standard dress helmeted diver about to descend on a pearl bed û
rather traditional with no real historic significance û but, the
page also shows a photograph of a very interesting diving apparatus. The
photo is simply captioned 'Shallow Diving. Note the Ned Kelly Helmet'.
Looking closely at the photo of two men in a low-freeboard skiff and a
man (diver no doubt) in the water there appears to be what looks like a
small water urn with a rectangular protrusion from its cylindrical
body. This is no doubt the fitting for a face plate. Part of a hose is
visible and, intriguingly, next to the 'helmet' there I what appears to
be the handle of a standard car-tire foot pump. It would be appreciated
if anyone who knew bout this helmet could contact me. It was probably æhome-madeÆ
and not in commercial production. (For those of you reading this who are
not familiar with Australian colonial history, Ned Kelly was an outlaw
who confronted the police wearing a suit of iron armour including a helmet
with slits for the eyes. It would hardly double for diving use!!) This
small book of more than likely emphemeral interest in its time is probably
rather rare today and a fine collector's item. [pjs] |
.
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|
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AUSTRALIA'S
GREAT BARRIER REEF.
A Handbook on the Corals,
Shells, Crabs, Larger Animals and Birds, with some remarks on the Reef's
place in History.
Vincent Serventy.
First published 1955, by
Georgian House, Melbourne, in assocition with Phoenix House, Limited, London.
A small book, hardcoverm
dustjacket, 87 pages, mono photographs.
Wouldn't it be nice to think
tht the Great Barrier Reef could remain the way it was fifty yars ago when
the author, a mrine naturalist, first observed it. His final chap[ter is
called 'Tourist and Reef'; I am sure Dr. Serventy would not have imagined
the tourist development that has occurred over the past twenty years. So
far we have kept the oil rigs away. But for how long?
[pjs] |
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AUSTRALIA'S
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Isobel Bennett
The Australian Museum Environment
Series.
Collins Publishers Australia,
Sydney. 1987.
Softcover, abourt quarto,
64 pages, further reading, no index. colour throughout and mono drawings.
A very good, concise, readable
coverage of the magnificent Great Barrier Reef. Covers the usual marine
life, the fishes and invertebrates, the corals, the mammals. |
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BARRIER
REEF DAYS
William Hatfield.
Oxford Univerisity Press,
Melbourne First published 1948, reprint 1949.
Hardcover, probably no dust
jacket, 224 pages, a few mono line drawings.
This is a story of life
on the Barrier Reef, but not having read it as yet (only skipped through)
I am not sure if it is factual. I think it is from the style of the writing.
[pjs] |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEEF PROVINCE
Edgar Frankel.
Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority.
Australian Government Publishing
Service. Canberra 1978.
Softcover, perfect bound,
204 pages, index.
Like all bibliographies,
it is in author's sequence.efers of course not just to pubpished books
but, mainly, academic papers. |
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CORAL
REEFS
Subtitle: A Global View
by Diver and Aquarist Les Holliday
Les Holliday
Consultant: Dr. Elizabeth
Wood.
Published by: Salamander
Books, London in 1989.
Hard back with dust jacket,
204 printed pages. Very well illustrated with many colour photographs and
diagrams. Dimensions: 31 cms tall by 22 cms wide.
The book is split into 2
parts, “The Coral Reef Environment” and “Coral Reefs of the World”.
In turn, each part is further sub-divided into several parts with part
1 concentrating on general subjects like how a coral reef is created and
fishes of the coral world. Part 2 looks at coral reefs in the Caribbean,
Maldives, Res Sea, Kenya, Great Barrier Reef and Hawaii.
As usual in these sort of
books, all the photos & diagrams are of a very high quality.
[pt] |
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CORAL
REEFS - NATURE'S RICHEST REALM
Roger Steene.
Crawfod House Press, Bathurst,
Australia. 1990. ISBN 1 86333 009 7.
Hardcover, dust jacket,
336p, large format, gloss art paper, full colour.
One of the finest books
on life in the coral seas. Shot on the Great Barrier Reef, the Red
Sea, Indian and Pacific Ocean islands and reefs, it features Steene's superb
photography. The text is brief but valuable. The book is now out of print
and will no doubt become a collectors item. The finest photographic
book of marine animals and the sea produced by an Australian publisher,
by an Australian photographer.
[ps] |
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CORALS
OF AUSTRALIA AND THE INDO-PACIFIC
J.E.N.Veron.
Angus & Robertson, Sydney,
1986. ISBN 0 207 15116 4.
Hardcover, dustjacket, A4
size, massive 644 pages, full colour throughout, diustribution charts,
index.
There is no finer book on
the subject. Once again, when the book sold out the publishers did not
bother to reprint inspite of the continuing demand. This resulted in a
three-volume set CORALS OF THE WORLD being published by the CSIRO, containing
of course a great deal more information, but at a commensurate cost. The
single volume book was ideal for Australian waters and is in great demand.
[pjs] |
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CORALS
OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Photography by Walter Deas.
Text by Steve Domm.
Ure Smith Pty Ltd., Sydney,
1976.
Hardcover, dustjacket, A4
size portrait, 126 pages, index, full colour throughout.
From the fly blurb: Corals
of the Great Barrier Reef provides an authoritative introduction to coral
classification and biology and coral reef ecology and a full colour identification
guide to the corals of the area. Walter Deas and Steve Domm take you into
the tranquil underwater world of subdued sunlight, living coral colonies,
brilliantly coloured fish with often bizarre shapes, giant clams, crabs
and anemones. Perhaps it is this unique combination of beauty that gives
the coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef their mystique.This book brings
home to us the fragility of the whole coral community in its exposure to
danger, not only from adverse sea and weather conditions, but also from
other inhabitants of the marine environment, mainly the Crown of Thorns
starfish. Hopefully it will help us to appreciate the need to conserve
and protect the richest coral reef community in the world—the Great Barrier
Reef. |
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DISCOVER
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK
Compiled by Lesley Murdoch,
Great Barraier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Bay Books, Sydney.
Softcover, stiff card, A4
size, 96 pages, index, full colour throughout.
An excellent book on The
Reef, covering the geography, oceanography, history and of course the natural
science through the chapters: The Wonder Down Under; Reefs, Islands and
Coral Cays; The Reef Community; All Creatures Great and Small; In Days
Gone By; The Reef and Us; A Window on the Reef. |
.
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FISHES
OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AND CORAL SEA.
The Complete Divers' and
Fishermen's Guide.
John E. Randall. Gerald
R.Allen, Roger C.Steene.
Crawford House Press, Bathurst.
Published in the USA by University fo Hawaii Press, 1990. ISBN 1 86333
012 7.
Hardcover, dustjacket, A4
size, 506 pages. A superb book, generally with three or four photographs
per page.
Second edition, Revised
and Expanded, 1997. Crawford House Publishing, Bathurst. ISBN 1 86333 140
9.
Hardcover, dustjacket, A4
size, 556 pages - fifty more than first edition. A superb book, generally
with three or four photographs per page. Generally regarded as the bible
for divers.
Top is first edition.
[pjs] |
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GREAT
BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK AUTHORITY - WORKSHOP ON THE NORTHERN SECTOR OF
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority, Townsville, Australia. 1978.
Paper and proceedings of
a Workshop held in Townsville 20 and 21 April 1978.
A4 size, perfect bound soft
cover, 462 pages, all mono, no photographs, no index, several charts.
No less than thirty-one
speakers, and thus printed papers from the likes of Isobel Bennett, J.E.N.
Veron; John Wilson. Seven sections: Description and administration, law;
Use of the area, shipping and transport, tourist and recreation; Natural
features' Suveillance and management; Zoning and methods of regulation;
guidelines for the GBRMPA. |
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Reader's
Digest Book of the
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Reader's Digest, Sydney,
1984. ISBN 0 949819 41 7.
Hardcover, dustjacket, large
square format 365 x 265 mm, 384 pages, full colour throughout, index.
An excellent comprehensive
book on the Great barrier Reef, its formation, corals, marine life, recreational
and scientific use. Although the subject matter is diverse, this is perhaps
the best book that covers "The Reef". [pjs] |
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GREAT
BARRIER REEF
And Some Mention of Other
Australian Coral Reefs.
William J. Dakin
Australian National Publicity
Association, Melbourne 1950.
Hardcover, dust jackt, 134
pages, mono prints, index.
One of the true classic
book on the natural sciences by the father of marine biology. It is also
interesting to rad of the mny islands hat were, in the days of Dakin, free
of tourists and the ghastly resorts that go with them. Here is Heron, and
Hayman, and Lindemann and Dunk islands at their best
From the fly: This
story concerns the wonder and beauty of the greatest coral region of the
seven seas. As the author so aptly writes, "The words 'coral' and 'coral
islands' have generally called up visions of romance and one can remember
how they not only formed the background of many stories of boyhood, but
made at least one best-seller of recent times. To scientists of the last
hundred years they have, however, been magnets of great attractive power.
They have provided the most fascinating problems for the marine biologist.".
For the late William .J. Dakin, D.Sc., Emeritus Professor of Zoology, University
of Sydney, the amazing Great Barrier Reef region, the scattered green atolls
of the tropic seas and other coral regions, such as the Abrolhos Islands
of the West, constituted allure and a life-long delight. His life-work
concluded with the writing of this volume - a brilliant effort to make
known, to every visitor and to those who cannot travel, the unique geogaaphical
feature of the Australian continent. [pjs]
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
- And Some Mention of Other Australian Coral Reefs.
William J. Dakin. (Emeritus
Professor of Zoology, University of Sydney).
Revised by Isolbel Bennett.
Walkabout Pocketbooks -
Ure Smith Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1968, second impression 1970.
Stiff board covers, 176
pages, maninly mono but some colour plates, index.
From the back cover blurb:
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, ranks high among the wonders of the world.
Its coral reefs and uncounted islands, sparkling over an area of eighty
thousand square miles off the coast of Queensland, are a paradise for the
tourist and the nature-lover; and for the beauty, variety and interest
of the life they contain they probably are unsurpassed on earth. William
J. Dakin (1883-1950), for many years Professor of Zoology in the University
of Sydney, was one of the best popular writers and broadcasters on the
world of nature that Australia has seen. Marine life was his special interest,
and he made an extensive study of the reef waters of the continent. He
wrote this book (first published serially in Walkabout magazine) to introduce
the general reader to the fascinating story of the best-known reefs. The
Great Barrier Reef describes how coral reefs, islands and atolls are formed;
and it explains the nature of the coral animal and the other creatures
that make the reefs. There are sections on the vegetation of the reef areas,
and on their wildlife—birds, fishes, shells, sea-stars, and the rest. All
the time the reader has a feeling of accompanying this engaging author;
whether fossicking on an inshore reef-flat at low water, or standing with
him far out to sea on a reef of the outer barrier, looking down into a
crystal abyss of deep ocean while the groundswell surges over the pink
and purple living corals of the reef's edge. This edition has been revised
in detail by Isobel Bennett, of the Department of Zoology, University of
Sydney, and an appendix prepared by the Australian National Travel Association
gives the intending tourist information about transport and accommodation
facilities for Barrier Reef holidays. The Great Barrier Reef is illustrated
with sixty colour and black and white photographs. [ps] |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF - FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE
David Lawrence, Richard
Kenchington, Simon Woodley
Melbourne University Press,
Carlton South, Melbourne. 2002
Softcover, still board,
268 pages, index, referencescp;or plates and maps, charts and drawings.
From the back cover blurb:
The Great Barrier Reef is an icon of natural wonders and a tourist drawcard.
It is protected and managed as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park—the world's
largest marine park and the first marine-based World Heritage area. Unique
in size, structure and operations, the marine park is of national and international
importance. The management system is evolving from a model focused on coral
reefs to one based on a better understanding of marine ecosystems and the
complex relationships between sea and land. Until now, this system has
been little analysed and not well understood. The authors trace the marine
park from its establishment during the environmental activism of the 19605
and 19705 through its recognition as a World Heritage site to the current
operations of the Marine Park Authority. They discuss the crown-of-thorns
starfish controversy, the Port Hinchinbrook development, the Nelly Bay
marina off Townsville, the failure of the Floating Hotel and exploding
tourism development. Growth of tourism, industrial development, native
title claims, expansion of the fishing and sugarcane industries, and declining
water quality—all these issues demand immediate attention. As this important
book vigorously argues, an integrated management policy is vital to the
survival of the dynamic, diverse and vulnerable environment of the Great
Barrier Reef. [pjs] |
| No image |
GREAT
BARRIER REEF: DIVING GUIDE
Roberto Rinaldo
The Five Mile Press Noble
Park, Victoria, Australia 1997.
Softcover, 4to - over
9" - 12" tall; 168 pages with colour illustrations.
Introduces twenty-seven
dives scattered along the entire barrier reef. Also includes a section
dedicated to the flora and fauna of the Great Barrier Reef. |
| No image. |
LA
GRANDE BARRIERE DE CORAIL.
Bernard Gorsky.
Paris. 1969. Hardcover,
dustjacket, 253pp. col & b/w ills.
French text.
Underwater photography of
the Great Barrier Reef. |
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ON
THE BARRIER REEF.
Notes From a No-ologist's
Pocket Book.
S.Elliott Napier.
Published in 1929 by Angus
and Robertson, Sydney.
Hardcover, 194 pages, mono
photographs.
Quite an important historry
as it covers early explotation of the reef as well as a description of
a number of islands and the marione and land animals.
Hardcover, no dust jacket
on my copy but may have had one, 193 pages, index, a few mono photographs
of natural science subjects, two maps.
The book is based on a series
of articles first published in the Sydney Morning herlad, and concerns
itself with an expedition to a number of islands to the Great Barrier Reef,
to observe and record nature. Chapters include: Bundaberg to Lady
Musgrave; the Mutton-Bird; Noddies and Gannets; Crabs and People; Fish
and Flora; The Ways of the Turtle; Turtle Soup and Turtle-Riding; Wonders
of the Reef, Shells; Insects andCorals; and Beauty and Cruelty. I
understand this was a well respected book in its day, and I have no reason
to assume that it has not lost this respect amongst those whop study the
Great Barrier Reef. [pjs] |
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THE
AUSTRALIAN GREAT BARRIER REEF IN COLOUR
AUSTRALIA'S GREAT BARRIER
REEF IN COLOUR
Keith Gillett.
A.H. & A.W. Reed.
First published in 1968
as The Australian Great Barrier Reef in Colour; reprinted 1971, 1976.
New edition as Australia's
Great Barrier Reef in Colour, in 1980, and revised in 1984.
Hardcover, laminated boards,
square format 180 x 180mm, 96 pages, index, full colour throughout.
A delightful book and very
popular indeed with several reprints. Very informative as you would expect
from this author. Covers the marine life of course, and coral reefs and
their formation. Fishes, turtles, birds and sea-snakes of course. A book
well worth having. |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF.
 |
Isobel Bennett. First published
by Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1971.
2nd Impression 1974.
3rd Impression 1978.
4th Impression 1981. (White
cover)
Hardcover, large format
(260 x 310mm), dust jacket, 183 pages, full colour and mono photographs
throughout.
I personally regard this
is still the best book on the GBR - informative and thorough, well written,
with fine photographs. As would be expected, covers the formation of the
coral reefs, the reef-building animals, the animals that inhabit the reef
system, fringing reefs and inshore islands. A great book, dedicated respectfully
by the author to the memory o Professor William John Dakin, Challis Professor
of Zoology, Univeristy of Sydney, 1928-1948, "who guided my first footsteps
as a marine biologist". The author also wrote the acclaimed, 'The Fringe
of the Sea', in 1966.
[pjs] |
|
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Allan Power.
Published by Paul Hamlyn
Pty Ltd, Sydney, in 1969.
Hardcover, large format,
dust jacket, 144 pages, full colour.
Few people realise that
the author, a well-known dive operator in Espiritu Santo (wreck of the
SS Prsident Coolidge) was once an accomplished underwater photographer,
one of the first in Australia. This book is the first that Paul Hamlyn
published, a great fouindation for a remarkable publishing company.
The book went through many reprints and is still provides vluable knowledge
to this day.
[pjs] |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Eric Worrell.
Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
1966.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 128
pages, many mono and some colour photographs.
One of the earliest 'popular'
books on the Great Barrier Reef, a great read of the reef in its early
'pubic-popular' life. Life was different in the fifties and changes are
inevitable - fortunately we no longer have crocodile races and play and
ride with turtles (and slaughter them). We have moved on. Although Worrell
was a naturalist and writer, there is little to recommend the book for
any insite into thwe natural sciences of the reefs aanimals - there are
plenty of other books that do that. Nevertheless it retains some historical
interest. |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Craig McGregor and the editors
of Time-Life books.
One of the series The World's
Wild Places. 1974
Hardcover, dustjacket, square
format, 184 pages, index, bibliography, full colour throoughout.
From the fly blurb: It is
an astonishing fact that the spectacularly beautiful Great Barrier Reef,
1,200 miles long, has been built chiefly by animals only half an inch long.
This volume unravels for you the mysteries of this astonishing phenomenon
of nature. With the help of marine biologists, underwater photographers
and Author Craig McGregor, you will explore the exotic world off the coast
of northeastern Australia. Forty five miles from the mainland you'll step
off a helicopter onto the burning white sands of Heron Island, deserted
except for thousands of noisy sea birds on the beach or cawing in the tangled
growth of the Pisonia trees. This is one of the sandy cays, typical of
the reef and an excellent "platform" from which to begin your underwater
explorations. In lively text, accompanied by scores of colour-splashed
photographs you'll swim with Author Craig McGregor through the fantastic
coral gardens of the Reef, gaze at the rainbow hues of the unparalleled
variety of fish there, watch their graceful, deft underwater movements
as they feed, or fight to survive. You'll see some of the alarming predators
who lurk among the recesses of the Reef, from the almost invisible box
jellyfish with poisoned sting cells in its tentacles (lethal to man, as
well) to the ugly stone-fish with its eighteen poison tipped spines. You'll
learn how this gigantic coral world was formed over thousands of years;
how half-inch long polyps grow stone "houses" for themselves, but always
attached to a neighbour's,thus gradually forming a complex underwater structure
of beautiful and bizarre shapes. On Beaver Cay you'll spend time observing
the intriguing, sometimes comical ways of the sea birds: silver gulls,
terns, wedge-tailed shearwaters (which live in underground burrows), gannets,
noddies, the agile frigate birds (the "pirates" of bird colonies which
knock food out of the grasp of other flying birds and snatch it for themselves
before it falls into the sea). And you'll watch the most archaic of reptiles,
the huge Green Turtles, make their infrequent visits to the Barrier beaches
for egg laying and then disappear again into the sea for two years or more.
The volume concludes with a discussion of the Reef's uncertain future.
With its immense limestone and other mineral deposits it tempts exploitation.
With increasing waste being dumped into the sea the delicate polyps may
not survive in such great number. What is likely to happen next? |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF - A Diver's Guide.
Australian Underwater Federation.
Editor Peter Saenger. Brisbane
1977.Softcover, 206 pages, index, further reading, mono and some colour
photographs.
With a forward by the Queensland
Premiewr at the time, Joh. Bjelke-Petersen.
Produced for the 5th World
Underwater Congress in Queendland in 1977 organised by the AUF which, I
am told, was a complete disater through lack of patroinage. The book has
several highlt qualified contributors including Isobel Bennett, Harold
Heatwole, Neville Coleman. The sections: The GBR - geology, geomorphology,
flora and fauna; The Lore of the Reef; Plant Life' Animal Life' Wrecks
on the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Reef Diving. |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF - A Guide to the Reef, Its Islands and Resorts.
Text and Photography by
David Heenan.
Glenemede Pty Ltd, Wilberforce,
NSW, 1990. ISBN 0 7316 5785 3
Hardcover, dustjacket, A4
landscape, 242 pages, full colour throughout, no index.
An exce;;ent book copvering
the islands by chapter includsimng history and geography, and the natural
sciences of the reef and islands both underwater and topside. Not all opf
the islands are strictly on the Great Barrier Reef but that does not detract
from trhe book of course. The islands covered are Bedarra, Brampton, Daydream,
Dunk, Fitzroy, Great Keppel, Green, Hamilton, Hatman, Heron, Hinchinbrook,
Hook, Lady Elliot, Lindeman, Lizard, Long, Orpheous, South Molle. |
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THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF AND ADJACENT ISLES
Keith Gillett, and Frank
McNeill.
Coral Press Pty Ltd., Sydney.
1959.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 170
x 250 mm portrait, 194 gloss art pages, many mono and a few colour photographs,
glossary, index, list of scientific names.
Gillett is well known as
a photographer and naturalist with a number of excellent publications to
his name, and is an Australian pioneer in underwater photography - one
of the first to publish photographs of live marine animals in situ rather
than in an aquaroium or dead specimens on a piece of hessian. (Although
there are not too many natural environment shots in this book - but then
it is 1959. Despite the passage of time, it is still a great book to read
and to gain a wealth of information. Chapters include An Archipelago of
Coral Isles; Corals and their Allies; Night Descends on a Coral Reef; Sea-stars
and Sea Urchins; Crabs and smaller crustaceans - and descriptions of the
physical chjaracteristics of the Cumberland Group of Islands (includes
Heron Island), and a chapter on Lord Howe Island. The final chapter is
a Marine Photographer's Guide, where he shows a number of housed-camera
systems and bulb flashes. The solid Rolleimarin model seems to be a favourite,
enclosing a Rollieflex camera. The chapter includes basic underwater photography
science, perhaps the first coverage in some detail in an Australian book.
A great book. [pjs] |
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THE
ROMANCE OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Frank Reid. With illustrations
by Geoffrey C. Ingleton. Published by Angus & Robertson, Sydney and
London, 1954. Hardcover, 191 pages, mono illustrations, no index. An excellent
narative of the GBR, covering (chapters) Early Visitors, Cook's Voyage
Inside the Reef, Remarkable Open-Boat Voyages, Adventurous Navigators,
The Island of Skulls, White Women Amongst the Savages etc etc. Includes
mention of the colourful Green Island hermit George Lawson,
known as Yorkie (thus the suburb Yorkie's Knob). A much under-rated book
on the finest reef system in the world.
On a personal note - I have
often been suspicious of books with a title of ... 'The Romance of....',
particularly when I came across a book called The Romance of Leprocy.
But I had a phone call from a gentleman in Queensland who was looking for
the book as it was his grandfather who was the author. We spoke for some
length and I managed to track down a copy for him, and also bought one
for myself. It turned out to be a great read, covering several of the popular
shipwrecks and fascinating stories of those intimately associated with
the Great Barrier Reef. [pjs] |
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UNDER
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Richard Lurie.
First published in 1966,
Jarrold Publishers (London) Ltd.
Hardcover, dust jacket,
191 pages.
A biography by an Englishman
diving the Great Barrier Reef in the 1960s. He certainly covers a lot of
ground. Part travel documentary, part marine observation, part personal
observation and opinion, it is of limited historic interest except
for the occasional annecdote.
From the fly:
Since the invention of the
snorkel and the aqualung vast new worlds have been revealed under the surface
of the sea. Skindiving is now one of the most popular and enthralling sports
in the world. Of all the places available to divers the Australian Great
Barrier Reef is probably the most rewarding. There a large variety of big
game fish abound and there also the conchologist may find an infinity of
strange shellfish. But these waters contain dangers in proportion to their
beauty such as man-eating sharks, poisonous jellyfish, sea snakes and,
perhaps most dangerous of all, the deadly stonefish. Richard Lurie has
spent years filming and skindiving along this fascinating Barrier Reef
where his vivid descriptions of the life below the sea bring to the reader
a world of beauty, savagery and enchantment. The author takes the reader
on his travels from the surf of Southern Queensland to the abysmal edge
of the outer reef. He takes you to the coral cay famous for its bird life
and to mainland rivers which are the haunts of crocodiles which lurk alongside
the jungle vegetation. Realism is the keynote of this true account of Richard
Lurie's twelve years' adventuring, filming and spearing in the vast coral
labyrinth which comprises the Great Barrier Reef. It is a story which will
appeal to young and old alike. [pjs] |
 |
WONDERS
OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF.
T.C.Roughley.
First published in 1936
by Angus and Robertson, Sydney and London.
Hardcover, 280 pages, colour
and mono plates.
This is the classic book
on the Great Barrier Reef, within many reprints since. It gives an early
aspect of how the reef was perceived and used commercially, with little
thought to tourism at the time. The chapter Wealth from the Reef gives
you an idea of how the marine life could have been exploited. E book gives
an excellent description of the marine life - the corals, fishes,
mammals and invertebrates. Still an important work.
[ps] |
