I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very educational. I enjoyed how the chapters were broken down based on areas that we are studying of the ocean. I enjoyed that it told us about the journey of studying our oceans and covered a wide area. I also really liked the combination of indigenous and local history/experiences with the scientific study of our oceans.

Two-thirds of the planet is covered by oceans, yet we tend to forget about critical ecosystems below the surface. This book dives deep into climate-induced changes happening in our oceans, from coral reefs and tidepools to whale migration. It’s well-researched, eye-opening, and worth the journey.

Book Review

Title: At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans by Tessa Hill & Eric Simons

Genre: Non-Fiction, Science, Nature

Rating: DNF

At Every Depth is a non-fiction book I have seen around looking at various parts of the ocean which is something that has both fascinated and terrified me. The first part we look at is tide pools which are a small pockets dense with life. However in recent years it has been noted that the species list has changed as cold water species have moved on since the water temperatures have been rising. This is a natural part of the earth's cycle although the book blames global warming but I don't buy into it. Tide pools are unique because of the diversity of life found there and how it is changing more frequently than the rest of the ocean but often goes unseen except to the trained eye.

The second area we look at is reefs. Reefs are brilliant tourist attractions in places like Australia's Great Barrier Reef but larger coral reefs have been dying of in recent years but thriving in others, pointing once again to the natural cycle of the earth changing ever so slightly resulting in some huge changes.

The reef chapter is all about coral reefs which were exciting to learn about. Coral actually lives in a symbiotic relationship with algae which is what gives the coral its colour and coral bleaching doesn’t equal coral death. When bleaching was first observed scientists didn’t have an idea what was causing it but it soon became clear there might be correlation between water temperatures rising and the bleaching event. As mentioned bleaching does mean death, it is just the coral expelling the algae thus losing its coral rendering it white. However, this phenomena reached across the globe even to the most remote coral reefs on the planet making scientists question the reason behind the bleaching. In areas with excessive pollution and overfishing these did contribute to coral death but not in other areas. This is still an area of science that isn’t well known and needs more investigation. As I don’t buy into the climate change theory I think it’s due to the natural progress of warming in the planets cycle.

Next up is the forests which might seem strange in a book about the oceans but there are numerous forests underwater just slightly different to the ones we know on land. There are also forest like mangrove forests that connection the ocean and the land. Hill makes the point that things like kelp forests are just as important to grow and sustain the underwater cycle as regular trees are on land but many overlook because of where they are. It is the old saying of out of sight, out of mind and this has meant the massive decline of several species of kelp has gone completely unseen except by scientists and people need to be more aware of small changes happening throughout the work. Learning about the relationships between the kelp forests and hordes of other life forms was fascinating and peaked my interest for what was to come.

The next chapter focuses on gardens, and this chapter was unfortunately the one that made me give up on this book. There was a major sign I was bored by this book and that was I fell asleep every time I tried to pick it up. While there were some interesting moments it definitely felt extremely repetitive and I ended up DNFing it as 40%.

We seem to know more about the moon and some other alien worlds than we do about what transpires under the depths of the seas all around us.

It is not for lack of trying. We are gaining much greater insights about the oceans and their ecosystems; and in order to learn, some things have needed to be unlearned, and that which was known by our ancestors required recovering.

At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans lays out what we are learning about the oceans, and how Science has had to humble itself and lean into and learn from Indigenous wisdom regarding the oceans.

The authors start at the shore and move outward, considering specific areas and the researchers learning about them. The exploration begins in tide pools off the central California coast; then the reefs of the Caribbean and Australia; the kelp forests, particularly in California; the clam gardens of the Pacific Northwest; the fish ponds of Hawaii; the open ocean and all the plastic now therein; the polar seas and environments; and the deep sea, exemplified with research into the Monterey Canyon and the research in the 20th and 21st centuries which led to greater understanding of the seafloor and the ocean ridges.

For each region/biome we discover how much has only been learned in the past century and how much we have yet to learn. The authors rely heavily on Indigenous wisdom and understanding, describing how they actively and well managed aquatic resources in a sustainable way yet provided significant abundance for all involved. We learn how the Polynesians understood the world as a constellation of islands, centering the ocean where we tend to center the land. And there’s a lot of humility regarding how much we do not know, and a warning about how much might be lost without better conservation and more sustainable management practices.

Throughout is the story of change: adaptations based on human interactions and fishing; the effects of a warming, more acidic ocean, and how the various regions/biomes are specifically affected.

The conclusion tells the story of the white abalone: its almost extinction at the hands of humans, but then how humans have been working diligently to conserve them, with some success.

Thus we have not yet reached the complete end of the ocean environments as we have known them, but they are all in quite a bit of danger. We don’t even know much about the deep, but there’s already attempts to mine them. Overfishing and plastic bedevils the oceans everywhere; we humans need to learn restraint and get away from plastic.

This is a great resource to learn more about the oceans around us and why it is important to give appropriate consideration to Indigenous practice and wisdom. They’ve lived in the land for generations and figured out some things. Western science could learn a few things.

One of my favourite ocean books! I really loved this collection of stories from various ecosystems and people. A great deal of attention is drawn towards Indigenous knowledge, which is very important and good to read as a Western marine biologist. A lot of the references are very useful to me, and I even found something to think about for my next publication. The book is easy to read, and when it was done, I wished there was even more!

A very imformative, comprehensive and educational book about the alarming changes to the ocean because of humans, especially since the Industrial Revolution. The book does offer some helpful resolutions if people work together for conservation efforts. Climate change really is big effing problem!

Well written and vey disturbing. The ocean is vital to life on the planetfor everyone and everything.

Recommended.

THanks to Netgalley, Tessa Hill, Eric Simmons and Columbia University Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 2/6/2024

oceanography, nonfiction, marine-biology, climate-change, environmentalists, environment, eco-awareness, eco-systems, climatology

Ocean habitats and ecosystems, oceanography and related sciences are made clearly understandable to this resident of the Great Lakes. For far too long the mindset of the land/water resources abusers has ignored the wisdom of the people indigenous to both salt and fresh bodies of water around the globe, but these specialists have made a concerted effort to teach academic and non-academic a more way to live WITH our oceans instead of vainly attempting to bend them to our will. I learned a lot!
I requested and received an EARC from Columbia University Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

This book explains how scientists, indigenous peoples, and volunteers are responding to unprecedented ocean changes. Grounded in science, the journey highlights human connections to the ocean and the shared goal of supporting a sustainable future in the face of a transforming seascape.

It’s heart-wrenching to read how the oceans have changed over the past 50 years, but this engrossing book offers hope for the future.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This book has found itself on the top of my list of favorite ocean books. Wow! Phenomenal read. “At Every Depth” takes the reader through different ocean habitats and ecosystems, highlighting specific species that are threatened while not making the reader lose hope. It is incredibly informative and insightful, sharing about issues in the intertidal, to the Arctic, to the deep sea. “At Every Depth” stands out from others through sharing and highlighting the Indigenous people around the globe who are essential to saving the ocean but have historically been left out of conservation.

This book doesn’t shy away from pointing out the harms that Western science and conservation have done to Indigenous people, culture, and the environment. The stories highlight how important Indigenous knowledge and culture are to protecting marine species and ecosystems. ”At Every Depth” talks about the many aspects of Western conservation that leaves Indigenous people out of the conversation, from Marine Protected Areas to aquaculture. This is so critical for people who want to help the ocean to be aware of and work to change.

I also loved the flow of the book and what ecosystems/issues that the author chose to highlight. They were incredibly powerful and informative, at times emotional enough that I actually cried! Not just once, but twice. Not sad tears but hopeful tears.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book so I can re-read it to highlight and bookmark information I’d love to be able to turn back too or relay to others. This book encapsulates so much that I have learned and felt in my years working in conservation, but also taught me so much, I see myself turning back to it often.

At Every Depth is a book focused on profiling the changes and effects taking place within our oceans. Drastic changes are happening beneath the water's surface from shallow tide pools to deep ocean depths.

The book reflects on our connection to the ocean, how these changes are being studied, and reflected upon and how in time the human connection is also being altered.

A good read, both educational and informative about how our oceans are changing at an alarming rate and the steps people are taking to mitigate these changes.