Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to Cape May [Paperback]

There are many reason why people take up scuba diving and those who do come from all countries and all social backgrounds. Having taken up the sport, there are those decide to specialise in; Teaching, shipwrecks, cave diving, photography, video, technical diving and so forth. In fact, there is no other sport on earth which offers such a diversity of different interests within that single activity.

Having learned to dive and having leaned towards a specific aspect, however, there is one single interest which continues to bind all divers together. That interest is the marine life which divers encounter wherever they go.

Neither sky divers, pot-holers nor mountaineers get as close to a whole new range of creatures as scuba divers do - on each and every dive. Those creatures may be static (fixed) and yet still classed as animal, they may be free swimming, shy, hard to find or easy to pick up. And, if those creatures are found in the North Atlantic between Canada and New England, they are also found in this book.

Marine Life of the North Atlantic is a paper-back book measuring 9" x 6" (23cm x 15cm) containing 272 pages of solid information on marine life from Algae to the Spiny Lumpsucker fish. Each species is portrayed by colour photography (often more than once) with details of it's Latin name, common name, identification (description) habitat, range and comments. Alongside each photo is also space for the owner of the book to note down each personal sighting and add notes etc.

In short, if ever you are diving in the area covered by this book and are interested in what you may see underwater, then this book is an essential addition to your kit bag and is one which will allow you to note each sighting as your diving progresses.

Please note, the pages of this book are not waterproof and easily stick together when damp. Otherwise, an excellent product.

NM

The eagerly anticipated fourth edition of Andrew J. Martinez's classic field guide to northeast marine species was well worth the wait. Building upon his previous three editions, this book has become a reference standard for naturalists, environmentalists, field biologists concentrating on marine species as well as scuba divers.

The most obvious change to the newest edition is in the subtitle: "Canada to Cape May" where Martinez extends the range of this North Atlantic guide to include Southern New Jersey down to the entrance of Delaware Bay. As such, the guide has grown nearly ten percent both in terms of color plates and plants and animals described. The scope of the book still encompasses marine life extending from sea plants (algae), through sponges and every form of invertebrate up to the vertebrate bony fish.

Other iterative improvements include replacing good photographs of species with even better ones in their habitats. Some genus and/or species names have changed based on the most current research in taxonomic classification and genetics. Back matter material such as Glossary, Index with Common versus Scientific Names and the Bibliography got shuffled around a bit - presumably for formatting reasons having to do with ease of use. True to its intent as a field guide, the book still retains spaces at the margins for noting dates and locations of identified species.

On a personal note, this book is a great asset to me as a scuba diver of some 40 years who, as an underwater photographer, needs clear and distinguishable photographs to identify and record photo subjects of my own. These together with Andrew Martinez's succinct descriptions and identifying characteristics makes that job much easier. Further, as one who is deeply concerned with environmental degradation as it relates to marine conservation, I am a volunteer with Salem Sound Coastwatch, a nonprofit organization that promotes awareness of our marine habitats while working to preserve the sound, estuaries and watershed. "Citizen scientists" as volunteers are called, work within the SSCW Coastal Habitat Invasives Monitoring Program to identify alien species that may have arrived in our waters through cargo ship holds' bilge water or other means. Martinez's book facilitates the identification effort where non-native species have been documented.

Entries include a veritable rogue's gallery of marine invaders including the European green crab, Carcinus maenas along with long-established tunicates like the Club Tunicate, Styela clava in addition to bryozoans such as Membranipora membranacea. While these species were noted in past editions, the 2010 release is updated with some of the latest species identified in the ongoing invasion of our local waters. For example, the tunicates Didendum vexillum together with Diplosoma listerianum are now catalogued where they had not appeared previously. This makes the update more timely and relevant for biologists currently working in the field and thus makes the investment in the new edition well worth the purchaser's expense.

For any amateur enthusiast or professional with an abiding interest in the marine life of the North Atlantic, I strongly recommend Andy's latest offering as a "must have" reference guide for your home library bookshelf, backpack or dive gear bag.

Excellent book for Scuba and Biology enthusists. Love the photos and descriptions of where they can be found. Bought extra copies for my friends.