Isobel Carlson - The Sea : a Celebration of Shorelines, Beaches and Oceans.

THE SEA

Copyright Summersdale Publishers Ltd, 2018

Text by Debbie Chapman

With research by Lizzie Price

Front cover top left photo (dolphin) Willyam Bradberry/Shutterstock.com; top right photo (waves) Pavel Vakhrushev/Shutterstock.com; middle right image (fish) vavavka/shutterstock.com; bottom left image (lighthouse) LAATA9/Shutterstock.com; bottom middle photo (shells) givaga/Shutterstock.com; rope pattern Irina Danyliuk/Shutterstock.com Back cover middle right photo (seahorse) GOLFX/Shutterstock.com; bottom right image (anchor) and rope pattern Irina Danyliuk/Shutterstock.com; bottom middle photo (pebbles) DoublePHOTO studio/Shutterstock.com

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No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, nor transmitted, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publishers.

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eISBN: 978-1-78685-669-2

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For Laura Marmolejo
Who is content, capable, and above all, relevant,
And who loves the sea.

INTRODUCTION

Theres no doubt about it: a good lungful of seaside air or a quick dip in the sea can work wonders for our health and well-being. For adults and children alike, the ocean is the worlds biggest and most mesmerising playground, delivering a wealth of sensory experiences and providing spiritual sanctuary. And our coastlines offer so much more than sand and sea; they are a treasure trove of spectacular terrains and ever-changing views, and a place for bracing walks, shoreline exploration, exhilarating water sports and cosy campfires. The sea is also our main resource, and home to the most extraordinary collection of living things, from the tiniest zooplankton right up to the gargantuan blue whale.

This book will not only introduce you to some of these beguiling creatures and spellbinding coastlines, but it also includes ideas for seaside activities and recipes to make the most of your time by the sea, and crafts that will bring the beach into your home. It will tell you the stories and legends of the deep oceans, fill your mind with fascinating trivia and give you a good dose of wanderlust.

If this book has one message, it is simply this: go to the sea. Walk along the beach. Breathe in the fresh, salty air, feel the sand between your toes, listen to the crashing waves and the crunching of rocks underfoot. Hear the gulls caw and watch the swooping flight of cormorants and frigatebirds. Catch a wave on a surfboard or dive down to a world of coral reefs and underwater treasures. Collect seaweed and fresh seafood from the shore and cook it on the beach, or hunt for jagged sharks teeth and fossils among the shingle. Appreciate this immense world for all its weird and wonderful life, protect it where you can, and most of all: enjoy.

The sea is emotion incarnate.

It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words.

CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI

The sea is as
near as we come to
another world.

ANNE STEVENSON

THE SCIENCE OF THE SEA: ESSENTIAL SEA FACTS

The Basics

• AREA : The ocean accounts for almost 71 per cent of the earths surface.
• WATER: Nearly 98 per cent of all the water on the planet is found in its oceans.
• AVERAGE DEPTH: 2.5 miles (4 kilometres).
• DEEPEST POINT: 6.8 miles (11 kilometres): the Pacific Oceans Mariana Trench 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) deeper than Mount Everests height.
• AVERAGE SURFACE SEA TEMPERATURE: 17C (62F).
• WATER PRESSURE: 8 tons per square inch (1.1 tonnes per square centimetre) at the deepest point in the ocean (the equivalent of having 50 jumbo jets on top of you).
• SALTINESS: The sea is roughly 96.5 per cent water and 3.5 per cent salts (including but not limited to sodium chloride, aka sea salt).
• COLOUR: Everything in the sea looks blue because the water absorbs all the other colours of sunlight red, orange and yellow are absorbed first, then green and violet, until there is only blue light left to reflect.

SEA FACTS TO BLOW YOUR MIND

• Humans have explored less than ten per cent of the worlds oceans. We have more detailed maps of the surface of Mars than of the earths oceans.
• While the oceans account for 99 per cent of the inhabited space on earth, more than 90 per cent of this living space is located in the deep sea.
• Twelve people have set foot on the moon. Just three people have been to the Mariana Trench.
• The Pacific Ocean alone covers more than a third of the earths surface and stretches nearly halfway around the world at its widest point. The distance at this point is five times more than the diameter of the moon.
• The speed of sound is faster underwater nearly four times as fast as the speed of sound in air.
• Photosynthesis in the oceans (from seaweed, seagrass and phytoplankton) accounts for up to 85 per cent of the oxygen in the air we breathe.
• The krill (tiny crustaceans that are an important food source for many marine animals) in the Southern Ocean weigh more than the total weight of the earths entire human population.
• Temperatures of up to 400C (750F) have been recorded at hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. This is possible because the immense water pressure stops the water from boiling.
• The ice sheet that forms over the ocean in Antarctica every year measures twice the size of the USA.
• The Mediterranean Sea was a dry basin until around five million years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean burst through the Strait of Gibraltar. It only took about two years for the water to fill it in to roughly the shape it is today, pouring into the basin 1,000 times faster than the speed at which the Amazon flows.
• There is marine limestone on the summit of Mount Everest. The Himalayas came into being when the sediments that had formed the bottom of the Tethys Sea (between the Indian subcontinent and Asia) 400 million years ago were forced upwards at an alarming rate (4 inches (10 centimetres) a year!). The upper layers of Everest now contain the fossils of trilobites and other microorganisms that were deposited in the shallow water of the Tethys.

PEBBLES AND FOSSIL HUNTING

The pleasing crunch of pebbles underfoot is one of the most satisfying elements of a trip to the beach unless you have the luxury of pure-white sand beaches for miles, of course. Take a closer look and youll discover that theres so much variety and fascinating detail in the stones and rocks you find at the beach. From the dazzling patterns and colours of shiny oval pebbles to semi-precious stones and fossils, you could start a collection to build into a rockery or garden display, or keep the most interesting ones on the mantelpiece or in a glass vase in the bathroom so that you always have a piece of the beach in your home. (Just check first to see if there are restrictions on how many stones youre allowed to take from your local beach and beware: some beaches prohibit it completely.)