Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. The photos were gorgeous! This would be a great addition for anyone interested in the oceans and sea life.

A gorgeous and informative read - I loved how the different sections were divided, and the pictures were simply fantastic.

The Ocean Speaks by Ocean Culture Life is an utterly spectacular book loaded with 200 magnificently detailed photographs and information on the oceans and the teeming life therein. Information separated into geographical regions written by various ocean enthusiasts includes topics such as conservation, an organization to ban bottom trawling fishing, cenote caves, importance of archaeology, pollution and invasive species.

What grabbed me most is the vast array of life in the depths. I learned more about dugongs, icebergs, luxuriant kelp forests, the eerie turtle tomb, stunning leafy sea dragons, cuttlefish mating (which I've seen in an aquarium), coral hermit crabs, whale sharks and Munk's devil rays. The ocean photography is amongst the most startlingly beautiful I've ever seen and swept me away. I am besotted by all things ocean and this book hit me in all the right places.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group Group - White Lion and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this astounding book.

A stunning book with exquisite photographs and stories from ocean conservationists around the globe. A must read for everyone who wants to keep this planet healthy, including our oceans. Highly, highly recommended!

As always, thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The photography was beautiful and haunting. The photos of manta rays especially, I took a long moment to ponder what that must've felt like to see in real life, truly awe inspiring. This is a lovely book, absolutely made to go on a nature lover's coffee table. The photos are really nice quality, and the blurbs beneath/beside them are informative and interesting.

Top quality and stunning photos of the oceans accompanied by curious facts about the lives in the ocean and how the oceans speak. A crucial book in understanding why oceans matter and why we shall do more to preserve them. A book for everyone who loves oceans, nature and a good reference to share with your children.

Beautiful books! The images picked are incredible and show how magnificent the ocean is. It is well explained and non-scientist will find it easy to follow. I particularly like the effort to link each part with the effect of human impact on the environment. Highly recommend!

Many great photos of the ocean and its inhabitants, above and below. Texts by a diverse collection of authors. Ocean protection and climate change are overarching topics. Entertaining, educational, approachable and great to look at. If you love the ocean, you will enjoy this.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Gorgeous photographs, interesting article. I liked that this was broken down by each ocean with the focus on one subject .
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have been in awe of the water since I was a small child, and I love any opportunity to learn more about our oceans and the life within. This book is packed full of stunning photographs and stories from all around the globe, and I very much enjoyed delving deep into this topic once more.

While there was not always enough detail (each experience is only given 2-3 pages and much of that is taken by the images - I really wanted more explanations and data), I did learn a lot and was struck by the common threads linking each section together - how much of the ocean's problems are human derived, how delicate the balance of life is, and how community led solutions are driving much of the change around the world. I was especially intrigued by the contrasting ideas about eco tourism. Definitely worth a read. Thanks to #NetGalley for providing a copy of #TheOceanSpeaks

Absolutely gorgeous photography and compelling stories, categorized by the different oceans around the world. I sometimes wish I had become a marine biologist, so I've pored over many underwater photos through the years. These are beautifully presented, and varied enough between not only region but also topic, framing, perspective, and size of the creature, that the book manages to illustrate what a truly wide variety of life our oceans contains. Of course, the variety of life in the oceans is actually SO vast that it would be impossible to really represent it in a single book, but this one does an excellent job of showing us a sliver of that enormous reality.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC.

Absolutely beautiful book that explores the world ocean, highlighting wildlife, people, and conservation efforts to protect this blue planet.

The photography is absolutely stunning and will inspire anyone who picks up this book.

In advance, I’d like to thank the publisher and netgalley for the free review copy in return for an honest review, no other inducements have been received by me for this, my words are my own.

The Ocean Speaks is a beautiful book that also carries with it the message of warning to what we are doing with our world and what we will lose if we continue down the path we are travelling as a species.

What it doesn’t do is try to preach or berate the reader into action, but instead demonstrates the magnificent diversity of flora and fauna that will be lost in the event that humans don’t change their way. These images were spectacular, and the brief but illuminating paragraphs that accompany each image are more than interesting.

From the Whale Sharks, who each have a unique spot pattern that allows individuals to be known, to the Sea Dragon, almost leaflike in its appearance, to the Manta Rays, and their not to distant cousins, the Devil Rays, all the way to the Sea Butterfly, a creature as ephemeral as anything that was seen in the film The Abyss, and yet it lives and thrives in the ocean, just below where we can perceive it.

The book does go into brief description of some of the initiatives that are being enacted to help things, like that Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS), which has managed to regenerate damaged Coral reefs and the life that depends on them.

Overall, this book would be worth it just for the images and the wonder that is captured on the lens, but when taken with the bigger picture (no pun intended) that it presents, it becomes excellent

Matt Porteous and Tamsin Raine created the Ocean Culture Life ( OCL) charity aiming to bring attention and focus on life in the remotest oceans of the planet and the impact of human activity and climate change.

This beautiful book of photographs shows the wonders beneath and above the tide. The images are accompanied by powerful messages from some of the world's renowned conservationists, photographers and marine experts.

The stories they tell describe the beauty of the oceans but also the very immediate and imminent threat to the survival of the oceans. The descriptions of travels, locations and dives are breathtaking and moving .

This stunning book is a celebration of the marine world but also 'a call to arms '; a recognition that much of what has been observed, described, photographed may well disappear in the coming decades. By increasing all of our understanding The Ocean Speaks is a vital book to educate more widely what is happening across the globe whilst celebrating this unique world hidden from the eyes and awareness of the human race.

Let's hope this book and OCL can bring even more attention to the plight of oceans and its millions of sea creatures and their ultimate survival.

Highly recommended.

Wow! What beautiful photography. Even familiar ocean landscapes and animals appear alien and intriguing. Gorgeous.

If there is one thing to know about me it is that my biggest dream is to live in the ocean. Is it realistic? Definitely not. Do I still occasionally cry about not getting to be in the water and swim with whales every day? Absolutely. So when I saw this book I jumped at the opportunity to check it out.

This collection is an amazing effort from over 45 ocean life enthusiasts to bring the wonders of the ocean into people’s homes. This book is split into geographic regions which makes it easy for you to follow and learn where these photos were taken (or more easily find what could be spotted in your own backyard!). This book not only has GORGEOUS photos, but also stories that accompany each one. These stories range from personal stories about how the photo was taken, about the animals themselves, or about the region in which the photo was taken. This would make a beautiful display on any shelf or coffee table- and you’ll want it in reach because you won’t be able to put it down.

Oh, my. What can I say about this? It is a must. A must for any ocean lover, shark lover, earth lover, conservationist, and person who cares for the earth and the sea.

Oh, and anyone who cares whether or not we have a future on this planet. The photography is achingly beautiful, the concept heart-rending, and the fact that there are people out there who are doing this is one of the few things that gives me hope for the human race. Do we deserve to survive? Some of us perhaps, most no. And if we carry on this way, we won't. But hopefully, the earth will endure, and the magnificent ocean world that is so breathtakingly beautiful - and vital to our survival - will live beyond us and our sickening greed and selfishness.

I cannot recommend it enough. For yourself, for a friend, as a gift, as a reminder. Especially as a reminder.

4 stars. I received this book from Netgalley. What initially drew me into this book was the beautiful pictures of the ocean and ocean life. I love going to the beach and jumped at this opportunity to learn more about the ocean and how to protect it. It explores topics such as marine wildlife and problems ocean life is currently facing such as illegal bottom trawling that kills and destroys ocean creatures and their habitats. The founders of Ocean Culture Life are well educated on the topics of marine life and I learned a lot from this book.

This title features fascinating photography of oceanic subjects both expected (whales, sharks) and surprising (pyjama sharks, nudibranch). The lucky readers of a physical copy of this book are in for an awe-inspiring visual experience. I enjoyed virtual travels to a geographic range of subjects (Jersey, Azores, Celtic Deeps), along with relevant facts presented in the text. My one hesitation about the overall presentation is that the interesting facts were sometimes buried in over-rhapsodized adjective-laden prose that felt a bit overwrought and that told the reader how to experience the images in a way that felt overly prescriptive at times. I understand that a main purpose of the book is to convey a sense of awe, appreciation, and respect for oceanic life. I would have personally preferred a more subtle touch in the textual support for the amazing images contained in this book.