Marine Life Books

This book is a must have if you frequently find yourself lucky enough to enjoy Australian seafood. It features almost all of the commonly available species you are likely to find in a restaurant or a fishmonger.

This book enables you to plan your meals- it mentions eating qualities for each species, and oil contents so you can actually "get the good oil"! It also features latin names, habitats and similar species guides.

Recommended marketing names are also used which is essential for Australian exporters. It is recommend to the novice fish eater and the professional seafood exporter. You can also get this in a laminated version which I suppose you could safely take to sea with.

Hard to find, even in Australia but well worth the hunt. Fantastic photography throughout of the whole fish and fillet.

As a commercial fisherman this book has been invaluable to my day to day working life.If you like to eat seafood , wish to learn more about fish , crusteations , molluscs , and invertibrates of Australia then this book is a fantastic reference item. inside are clear sharp images , protein fingerprints and a complete written breakdown of each species mentioned.The text is clear , concise , and straight to the point without scientific mumbo jumbo to confuse you. what can i say BUY THIS BOOK !!

What a great story about a brave little turtle. My kids love all Tammy Yee's books and the Baby Honu books are their favorites.

Tammy Yee put together a very nice book on Hawaii's green sea turtle, the honu. This story really is about the adventures and trials all newly hatched sea turtles go through. When you are small, the world is full of predators! I use this book to read to first through third graders.

The paintings are stylized, and cute. Can you visualize a flying honu? How about a honu dreaming in his egg? Yee integrates some Hawaiian words into the text, and provides a glossary in the back. A Hawaiian word not in the glossary is "keiki", or children. My book is inscribed "For the keiki, may you have an incredible journey!! With warm aloha, Tammy Yee."

This book puts a smile on your face.

What a wonderful book. Lovely illustrations to draw children's attention. Excellent factual information about otters.

Lessons Learned in Baby Sea Otter
by Betty Tatham
Reviewed by RM McCall for The Best Book Bin


Baby Sea Otter is an exquisite non-fiction picture book exploring the life cycle of the Sea Otter. Children love to learn about animals and this book fills that bill. Each page walks you through the life cycle of the Sea Otter. I found myself saying, "Really? I didn't know that." I didn't know that the sea otter had pouches under its arms. Or, that they have the thickest fur of any animal on earth. Or, that the male otter will try to kidnap a baby for food ransom. Parents will enjoy reading this book to their little ones and the beautiful artwork will delight both parent and child. Ms. Tatham has taken real life facts and presented them in an exciting and interesting way. The baby sea otter faces many of the same things a child faces in life. The mother cares for the baby sea otter. She provides shelter and protection, until the baby grows big enough to fend for itself. As the baby grows, the days are filled with fun playing with the other pups and floating on a raft. But the tension builds when an eagle dives from the sky, thinking the baby sea otter would make a tasty evening meal. As the baby grows it ventures off on its own, but it soon realizes there are still things to learn, when it has a close encounter with a shark. At the age of three the young sea otter is ready to mate and the cycle starts all over again. This book is perfect for children 4-8 years old and for adults who enjoy the beauty of a good picture book and relish learning along with their children.

When I first got the book in 1999, I read it cover to cover immediately, and learned much about the various beach finds I have been curious about for many years. It answered many of my basic questions and I still use it as a reference. Interesting and valuable information.

Althought the cover looks simplistic, it belies an excellent book for those interested in coastal and estuarine life forms and habitats in the Northeast US. Much more scientific than I expected. A great reference book!

Unlike the first reviewer, I'm an amateur. Our family recently relocated to the Puget Sound region and have discovered the excitement of exploring the many tidal pools and beaches in the area.

We've purchased several field guides and although this one is not my favorite - it is large and has a limited number of high-quality color photographs - it is definitely a good book.

What it lacks in photos it more than makes up for in information - in a very easy to understand format. He introduces the region and explains the "whys" behind the geography, then moves into his very beneficial tips for successful beachcombing.

What I like most about the book, however, is that he goes into great detail about the different tidal zones and the particular creatures you will find in each zone.

This book is a little advanced for our needs right now, but as my children age, I am sure it will be a well-referenced guide.

Recommended.

This book is an outstanding guide to the marine life found along the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Before I go further, I should note that it is NOT a pocket guide. But if you slip it into a daypack, you will be amply rewarded. Dr. Niesen has written a book that in very clear language helps you identfy what you are looking at, learn about its life habits, and learn about its habitat. Its emphasis on habitats, and arrangement by type of organism within each habitat, is extremely helpful. The black and white photos are usually pretty good, although sometimes dark, but the section of color plates is really good. What are really outstanding are the line drawings--David Wood, the artist, really captures the organisms in a way that brings out details yet preserves the basic nature of the organism.

The book also gives a great (meaning clear yet not too simple) introduction to marine biology for the Pacific Northwest, explaining tides, currents, the origin of the coast , and the basic biology of the major groups (taxa) of organisms. Furthermore, he provides tips on beachcombing.

All in all, a very handy reference. I will consider it for my Marine Biology class for non-majors (I'd use it with a majors course, too, if I taught one!).

The narration and sound effects are fabulous. Keeps little ones interested. Great facts are included however, they will never realize that they are learning.

The illustrations in this book where fabulous. The details where obviously pain-stakingly done. You can tell David Kiehm puts his heart and soul into his work. I can't wait to see more of his work!

The cover isn't real attractive but ,oh the book is so cool. Well written for the younger audience and for us older folks. The book focuses on the Kelp forest and its inhabitants. The world protected sea otter is featured many times. The pictures fit the text perfect. The book was first printed in 1992 and definitely endures the test of time. In the beginning of the book, Norbert Wu states the purpose of the book: "to help children discover beauty and life in a world they may otherwise not know at all." I'd say he achieved his goal. Kids can read this one alone, in a class setting and again with their parents.

This slim bit of eye candy gave me a great little introduction to the Kelp Forests! It has wonderful pictures and a great description of the kelp forest ecosystem. It's great for children, too!

I found "Beyond the Beach Blanket" a beautiful and easy to use field guide -- terrific photos and really interesting material. It contains much more information than the average field guide -- a lot of fun facts and cool stories about the lifecycles of beach creatures. It really covers a lot of different types of animals too -- clams and other shells, plus tidepool animals like sea urchins, plus what the book calls "near shore creatures" like fish and sharks, plus marine mammals AND shore birds. It's an all in one guide for the beach.

appreciate Marina Curtis Tidwell 's Beyond The Beach Blanket: A Field Guide To Southern California Coastal Wildlife all that's needed is proximity to a Southern California beach and a general appreciation for sea life. From thirty-year-old clams to strange jellyfish, color photos supplement science-filled but lively descriptions of the habits and habitats of Southern California's beach wildlife. A lovely, recommended pick.

I thought this book was enjoyable to read and important in its information about an endangered species. It shows respect for whales and conveys the awesomeness of the blue whale, the largest animal on earth. The illustrations were especially beautiful and made me want to swim underwater.

Big Blue by Shelley Gill is a superbly written children's picturebook about Kye, a young girl who studies facts about whales, dreams with whales, and yearns to experience whales close up. At last Kye has the opportunity to outfit herself with underwater gear and see a magnificent blue whale in person. Soothing illustrations by Ann Barrow prominently featuring the color blue add a resonant depth to this charming and avidly recommended picturebook story.

A wonderfully succinct overview of the blue whale and it's habits.

The clear, sweet prose makes delivery of the content easy, and the very fine, soft illustrations demand repeated veiwing. My Preschool and Kindergarten ESL students found it highly engaging.

If there's a better science and read-aloud book around I'd really like to know about it. TEN stars.

Follow this book up with the superb "Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?" by Robert E. Wells. Wells' book uses the whales' size as a starting point for exploring the size of the universe and other very big things (the second step involves putting a hundred blue whales in a really big jar). Read my review of Wells' book if you like.

I'm a whale researcher who has spent much of the last 12 years studying blue whales in the North Pacific. I'm also a mom who loves children's literature. Rarely do I see a book that is so accurate factually while it is captivating and magical! The illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone who has children who are facinated by whales.