I am the worst fisherman alive. but I always enjoy a good marine story. This is a wonderful book full of them. Read this one and reap.

From the tiniest marine creatures such as seahorses to the vast bulk of whale sharks, this book explores the denizens of the deep. The marlin is just one of the large predatory fishes, and the life and peculiarities of various species are presented in a way that's easy to read.

Today, we have many threats to marine life, from overfishing to human activity runoff and oil spills, to ever-increasing plastic pollution. The better we understand what is in the ocean, the more we may be inspired to save this fragile ecosystem. We don't even know for sure what we've lost, but we do know that some seabirds, seals and whales were driven to extinction or the brink of it. While it was thought that fishes were so plentiful, they would always be a sure crop, we now see that industrial fishing and trawling along with industrial quantities of wasted dead fish and bycatch have led to fish stocks collapsing around the world. More marine sanctuaries are required and strict enforcements against illegal and unregulated fishing have to be applied.

I learned a lot from this book and hope it reaches a wide readership. I recommend pairing this with Antarctic Affair by Fergus O'Gorman and Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw.
I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

You know, when it comes right down to it, we humans really do not know a lot about what is going on under the surface of our oceans. Every so often, we will read a report of some strange creature washing up on our beaches, or caught up in a trawler's nets.
I thought I was somewhat knowledgeable about the subject. After all, I majored in conservation in university, and have been a lifetime fisherman. And, my wife was until her just recent retirement, was employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, in the marine mammal section. So I absorbed a lot of information from her discoveries.
However, the author has led me to items and habits of fishes that I had no idea of! It's like there's a whole new world under the sea's surface.
Meisel does a fantastic job of identifying and describing unusual creatures. He writes in an easily understood manner. And his writing ability guides the reader into imagining the fish in their minds.
From sardines to whale sharks, sea horses to eels, it's in here. Each article fascinating in itself. I feel that I have learned quite a bit, and the author makes me wish for more.
Give this book a try and you will be surprised too!