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    CLASSIC DIVE BOOKS - Marine sciences.
    Please note: The books are listed for interest only, and not offered for sale.

    FOR A LIST OF CURRENT AUSTRALIAN AND GENERAL MARINE LIFE BOOKS, link to Oceans Enterprises- Marine Life.
    See also Marine Sciences - Australian authors.

    It would be ridiculously ambitious to claim tht this list is anything but superficial. It simply lists a few of my own titles and those that I have become aware, without any claim to the scientific or monetary value of the book. 
    ABYSS. The Deep Sea and the Creatures That Live in it. C.P.Idyll. 
    Published by Constable & Co. Londdon, 1964. 
    The author is a well known oceanographer and icthyologist, Professor of Marine Science at the University of Florida. This book is an excellent introduction into the formation of the oceans, the topography of the seabed, ocean currents, early deep sea exploration and the creatures that inhabit  the oceans, particuarly aat depths beyond that which we will ever visit. 
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 396 pages, mono photographs and line drawings, charts. Index and extensive bibliography.
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    ADVENTURES IN MARINE COLLECTING
    Robert Straughan.
    Published by A S Barnes 1973. Hardcover, dust jacket, 237 pages, mono photographs.
    Skin diving; treasure hunting; marine biology; snorkeling; sharks. The author collects marine specimens for aquariums around the world and loves danger - deep water adventure, Hammerhead sharks, Tiger sharks,  Mako sharks, Manta Rays, Moray eels, Barracuda.
    Parts of this book appeared in his 1965 book Sharks, Morays,Treasures.
    ANIMALS WITHOUT BACKBONES
    Ralph Buchsbaum.
    The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 
    It appears that the first edition of this classic came out in 1938, with a second edition in 1948 and a reissue with additions and revisions in 1976 9as shown left). ISBN 0 226 07870 1. 
    My edition as shown is softcover but no doubt hardcovers initially for the first two editions, and probably also for the 1976 edition. 
    Of course not all invertebrates are marine animals, but this has long been the standard text on the subject. It may well be still in print. 
    CREATURES OF THE SEA
    Being the Life Stories of Some Sea Birds, Beasts and Fishes.
    Frank T.Bullen.
    Published in 1909 by E.W.Cole, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide. (My copy Third Impression).
    Hardcover, colour printed board, 430 pages, forty illustrations. 
    Twenty-eight chapters cover the marine groups.
    DANGEROUS MARINE ANIMALS
    That Bite - Sting - Shock - are Non-Edible. A Handbook for Skindivers, Swimmers, Physicians, First-Aid Workers, Shell Collectors, Biologists, Explorers and Everyone who works or plays in or on the Seven Seas.
    Bruce W. Halstead, MD. 
    Firt published 1959 by Cornell Maritime Press, Martland, USA, in 1959. Library of Congress card # 58-59799.
    Hardcover, dustjackt, 146 pages, mono photographs, mono drawings, one colour plate of drawings.
    This appears to be the first of the popular "Dangrous Marine Animals" books and is so well respected that it is still in print. No dounbt later editions have been updated with new discoveries and treatments, but the first edition (left) is excellent for its content. A very important book.
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    DANGEROUS SEA CREATURES
    Thomas Helm.
    Published by Funk & Wagnalls, New York. Book Club edition, 1976.
    Hardcover, dut jacket. 
    A complete guide to hazardous marine life. Eighty-five photographs.
    Size: 8 1/2" x 5 5/8" - 278 pages.
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    KINGDOM OF THE OCTOPUS. 
    Frank W. Lane. 1957.
    First published October 1957 by Jarrolds Publishers (London) Ltd. 
    Hardcover, dust jacket, 286 pages, many mono prints, and a few colour plates.
    How much ore we have lernt of the Cephalopods in the past half century I do not know, but this would have been the definitive work on the subject in its day, and even 45 years on it is still a valuable reference. Chapters include a general overview of Cephalopods, food, enemies, locomotion, behaviour, colour, luminescence, reproduction, danger. 
    [ps]
    MAN AND DOLPHIN
    Dr. J.C. Lilly
    Published in 1962 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, London.
    Hardcover, dust jacket, 240 pages, mono photographs.
    The author is known for his pioneering work on communication, commencing prior to 1949 with land animals, then from that date with whales, and in 1955 with dolphins, for which he is best known. The book covers the anatomy, physiology and psychology of dolphins and iss written in layman terms. A wonderful book.
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    MARINE LIFE
    AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INVERTEBRATES IN THE SEA
    David and Jennifer George.
    Lionel Leventhal Ltd, London; G.Harap & Co. Ltd. 1979.
    (Also John Wiley & Sons, USA; Rigby Limited, Australia; and in Canada, France, Netherland, Spain.  ISBN 0 85368 333 6. 
    Hardcover, dustjacket, A4 size. 287 pages, colour, index.
    This used to be the 'bible' in the 1980s, and is still a very valuable book. It is an excellent book for identification, with some ten to twelve colour photos on each colour plate page, with a cross-reference numbering system to the text. It isbroken up into Phylum, with sub-groups lists and describes the characteristics of the animal. Although British-based, it is a world wide guide, relevent to tropical and temperate species. 
    [ps]
    Oceans Enterprises occasionally have second-hand copies.
    MIND IN THE WATERS
    A Book to Celebrate the Consciousness of Whales and Dolphins.
    Ed. Joan McIntyre.
    Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1974. Sierra Club, San Francisco. ISBN 684-13995-2 (cloth).
    Hardcover and softcover, A4 format, 240 pages, index.A superb book of a collection of essays by some of the main players in the study of marine mammals: Farley Mowat, Charles Doria, John Lilly, Joan McIntyre, Victor Scheffer, Lee Talbot and many others. In five parts: Myths and Beginnings, Brains and Consciousness, Living in the Sea, Dicovery and Response, Let Us Act.
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    OLD FOURLEGS. The Story of the Coelacanth.
    J.L.B.Smith.
    First published 1956, Longman Green & Co, London, New York, Toronto.
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 260 pages, mono prints.
    One of the most sensational discoveries in natural history, told by the icthyologist who was directl;y involved in its first capture off the South African coast in 1938. Prior to this, the fish, although known to scientists, was thought to have become extinct at least fifty million years ago. There was of course professional scepticism that it was indeed a coelacanth and Professor Smith had many battles ahead of him before proof could be found. A great story in itself. 
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    PYCNOGONIDS
    P.E.King
    Hutchinson & Co, London, Melbourne, Sydney etc. 1973. Hardcover, dustjacket, 114 pages, mono drawings, charts and maps, bibliography, index. 
    "The Pycnogonida are a group of marine arthropods often referred to as 'sea spiders'
    because of their superficial resemblance to true spiders. A general account of this group of
    animals has not been published in the English language since 19 9, and Dr King reviews all
    the literature, including material from recent research and his own unpublished work using
    the electron microscope. The text is generously illustrated and includes a key whereby zoologists
    can easily identify to family level any adult specimen of a pycnogonid."
    [ps]
    THE SEA FISHES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
    Professor J.L.B.Smith.
    The coast of South Africa is subject to a range of oceanographic conditions and habitats, and this translates into a wide diversity of fishes. Indigenous people knew of, and used, some of these fishes long before the arrival of explorers and naturalists from Europe, who subsequently described many of the species in the scientific literature. The appointment of J.D.F. Gilchrist as the marine biologist to the Cape Colony in 1895 started a tradition of ichthyology in South Africa that was fostered by K.H. Barnard at the South African Museum. The discovery of the coelacanth in 1938 put South African ichthyology firmly on the world map, and J.L.B. Smith produced the first edition of the remarkable volume Sea Fishes of Southern Africa in 1949. Subsequently, in 1986, with the assistance of numerous local and international contributors, M.M. Smith and P.H. Heemstra compiled Smiths' Sea Fishes, which documented >2000 species from the region. With the information in this volume as a basis, the coastal and shelf ichthyofauna of South Africa is examined at a biogeographic level. Diversity and endemism are discussed and complementarity analysis used to address the suitable location of marine protected areas to conserve the ichthyofauna of South Africa.
    The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa has had many revised editions through to 1986. It has long been the definitive work on the icthyology of South African waters, covering the east and west coasts of southern Africa, Mosambique and the then Portuguese East Africa. The first 34 pages cover general 'notes about fishes', their classification and nomenclature, ancestry, and environmental comment. The majority of the book covers the verious species with mono photographs, drawings, and full page colour plates. The text is extensive with detailed descriptions for positive identification.
    SEAWEEDS AND OTHER ALGAE
    C.L.Duddington.
    Faber and Faber Limited, London, 1966.
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 208 pges, mono photographs, glossary, index.
    "This book deals with the freshwater and mrin algae. After describing the structure and life histories of algae of all kinds, it goes on to describe in a general way their physiology, their habitat relations and their uses."
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    SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE
    Robert E. Schroeder.
    A pioneer night diver and marine biologist reveals the marvellous spectacle of underwater life, the remarkable changes between day and night. 
    THE SEA AROUND US.  Rachel L. Carson. 1951.  See Oceanography
    THE SEARCH BENEATH THE SEA
    J. L. B. Smith
    Publisher: Henry Holt and Co, c 1956
    Hardback, dustjacket, 260 pages, dimensions: 5 3/4" x 8 1/2", illustrated with mono photos and drawings.
    What an adventure! In the 1938 a strange fish was pulled from a trawlers net off of South Africa. A drawing of the fish was sent to reknowned icthyologist Smtih, who was stunned by what he saw as the strange fish had been thought extinct for more than 50 million year. It took 14 years of searching to find another specimen - off the French Comores Archipelago. This book is the story of these 14 years of searching for the illusive Coelecanthe. (Ebay description).
    [ps]
    THE UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE
    Carleton Ray & Elgin Ciampi.
    First published by A.S.Barnes & Co, Inc, New York in 1956, then published in 1958  by Nicholas Kaye Ltd, London. Some copies of the US edition have a stocker over the A.S.Barnes name, the sticker showing Kaye and Ward, London. This im;ies that a batch of the USA books were sold to Britain for distribution. The cover (as shown) appears to be the same for both the British and American editions.)
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 336 pages, mono and colour photographs, and line drwings.
    The region covered is predominantly the west coast USA, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska and the Mediterranean. 
    One of the early 'popular' books on marine life written by two very expereinced divers and underwater photographers, written when both were completing their PhDs at Columbia University.
    [ps]

    .
    		THE UNDERWATER NATURALIST. 
    Pierre de Latil.
    First published in France in 1951 as L'Homme Chez les Poissons.'
    First published in Great Britain 1954, Jarrolds Publishers (London) Limited. (Jacket left)
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 268 pages, mono plates throughout, drawings.
    'It is written lightly and witttily, with all the grace of a cultivated Frenchman.'
    Published 1955 by Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston (USA) - dust jacket bottom. 

    See other titles by de Latil:
    Sunken Treasure - with Jean Rivoire.
    Man and the Underwater World - with Jean Rivoire. 

    [ps-both]
     
    THE YEAR OF THE SEAL
    by Victor B. Scheffer.
    First published in the USA by Charles Scribner's Sons. 
    First published in Great Britain 1971 by Souvenir Press, London. ISBN 0 285 62027 4
    Harcover, dust jacket, 206 pages, mono drawings (woodcuts?) throughout.
    On the life of the Alaska fur seal, and the biologists who study them. 
    An early important marine natural science text.
    [ps]
    THE YEAR OF THE WHALE.  Victor Scheffer.
    WINDOW IN THE SEA
    Ralph Nading Hill
    First published 1956, Victor Gollancz Ltd, London.
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 240 pages, mono photographs.
    Based on observations of dolphin and sharks in an oceanarium, with an aim, inter alia, of fidning a rellant to ward off shark attack. Covers also the catching and transporting of large marine animals (sharks and dolphin), anaesthesia, and 'hints for mrine housekeeping'.
    [ps]
    WONDERS OF THE DEEP
    The Story of the Williamson Expedition.
    Victor E Allemandy
    Published by Jarrold and Sons, London. Not dated (probable only edition) circa 1914.
    Hardcover, 94 pages, size =  19 X 25 cms, well illustrated with black/ white and (hand coloured ?) photographs. 
    The story of the first film-makers of undersea life.
    Contents include; In the Bahamas, At Nassau, Taking Submarine Motion Pictures, Some oddities of fish life, Deep sea diving, A thrilling fight with a blue shark...etc

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