Britain's shallow seas are a mysterious domain. They remain largely unseen and unexplored except by marine scientists and divers, who have been documenting their wondrous discoveries over many years. Now, a wealth of information about what lives on and in the seabed has been brought together in one sumptuously illustrated volume.
Keith Hiscock describes the incredible variety of marine life that exists around Great Britain, providing a foundation of knowledge for those interested in the natural history of the shallow seabed. He explains how findings are gathered and organised, as well as showing what is out there and how it works. Fascinating, beautiful and often fragile, the habitats and marine life described are essential to the health and productivity of our oceans. Without an adequate, shared understanding of what and where they are, how can we identify and protect them?
Exploring Britain's Hidden World is the culmination of 50 years of research by the author to better understand where different subtidal seabed habitats occur and how their associated marine life has come to exist. That quest draws on a rich vein of knowledge obtained by many naturalists, scientists and divers who, for almost 200 years, have described seabed communities and sought to understand their structure and function.
Using a minimum of technical terminology, Keith Hiscock combines his interests in marine biology, diving and photography to inform, inspire, and leave a vivid and lasting impression of the marine habitats and species around Britain. He hopes this book will provide new insights, much pleasure, and perhaps some surprises too.
Britain's shallow seas are a mysterious domain. They remain largely unseen and unexplored except by marine scientists and divers, who have been documenting their wondrous discoveries over many years. Now, a wealth of information about what lives on and in the seabed has been brought together in one sumptuously illustrated volume.
Keith Hiscock describes the incredible variety of marine life that exists around Great Britain, providing a foundation of knowledge for those interested in the natural history of the shallow seabed. He explains how findings are gathered and organised, as well as showing what is out there and how it works. Fascinating, beautiful and often fragile, the habitats and marine life described are essential to the health and productivity of our oceans. Without an adequate, shared understanding of what and where they are, how can we identify and protect them?
Exploring Britain's Hidden World is the culmination of 50 years of research by the author to better understand where different subtidal seabed habitats occur and how their associated marine life has come to exist. That quest draws on a rich vein of knowledge obtained by many naturalists, scientists and divers who, for almost 200 years, have described seabed communities and sought to understand their structure and function.
Using a minimum of technical terminology, Keith Hiscock combines his interests in marine biology, diving and photography to inform, inspire, and leave a vivid and lasting impression of the marine habitats and species around Britain. He hopes this book will provide new insights, much pleasure, and perhaps some surprises too.
Foreword 5
Preface 7
Using this book 7
Exploration and discovery: the first 150 years 9
Early days 9
Systematic studies - remote sampling 13
Diving and video surveys 17
Gathering knowledge and creating information -
the past 50 years or so 21
Remote sampling and observation 21
Scuba diving takes-off 28
How we made sense of it all (biotopes) 36
Shaping the seabed environment 40
Britain's place in the world 40
Ocean currents 42
Wave action 42
Tidal currents 48
Wave action and tidal currents together 50
Light and depth 52
Salt and fresh 55
Weather events 55
Modifying factors 57
Physical and biological factors: bringing it all together 57
Habitats 60
Sediments 60
Open coast and rocky areas 78
Wrecks and other artificial substrata 114
Sea lochs 134
Rias and voes 152
Tidal sounds and other extremely tide-swept habitats 162
Estuaries 170
Saline lagoons 180
Species as habitats 185
Change 205
Seasons in the sea 208
Human activities 220
Decadal scale change 221
Non-native species 226
Concluding remarks 228
Protecting what we have 230
Threats and sensitivities 231
Protection 234
Marine protected areas - what they will and will not do 237
Restoration? 240
Research 240
The dilemma of non-native species 241
What you can do 242
The future is here 243
Finding information 243
Making seabed biology information `useful' 245
Visualisation 246
Collecting information 248
Glossary 250
Acknowledgements 256
Index 257
The author 263
The sponsors 264
Keith Hiscock is a marine ecologist who has been studying marine habitats and species for more than fifty years. His wealth of knowledge and experience in studying Britain's seabed habitats is unsurpassed.
"Combining [Hiscock's] obersvations with hundreds of photographs,
the result is this erudite and indispensable companion to our
shores."---Helen Scales, BBC Wildlife
"Exploring Britain’s Hidden World is like a perfectly presented
personal scrapbook produced from a life at the coalface, so to
speak. . . . . the text is a well weighted fusion of down to earth
and science and the images are consistently good at showing what is
needed without fancy lighting and photographic trickery."---Peter
Rowlands, Underwater Photography Magazine
"This is a seminal work, the sort that only appears once in a
life-time . . . . It is a boon to natural historians, peppered with
anecdotes on little known gems on our marine fauna . . . . Anyone
with an interest in British marine biology should have this work on
their bookshelf."---Myles O’Reilly, Glasgow Naturalist
"Exploring Britain's Hidden World provides a detailed yet highly
accessible introduction to our diverse shallow sea habitats and the
wonderful marine life they support."---Paula Lightfoot, Porcupine
Marine Natural History Society
"Exploring Britain's Hidden World is a fantastic book that combines
superb photography with some exciting science."---Amanda Hardy, The
Biologist
"The text is illustrated with photos that are generally excellent.
And the text itself conveys its message in a straightforward
way."---Tim Butter, Subsea Magazine
"This is a lavishly illustrated and well produced book that gives a
wonderful insight into this world and is thoroughly
recommended."---Roy Stewart, British Naturalist’s Association
"[An] erudite and indispensable companion to our shores. . . .
Hiscock explains why things are the way they are and urges us to
protect this hidden habitat."---Helen Scales, Discover Wildlife
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