covediver
Contributor
Sea Life of the Aleutians: An Underwater Exploration | Bookstore | Alaska Sea Grant
A few years ago I attended an evening lecture at University of Alaska at Anchorage about an expedition of discovery sponsored by the university at sailed down the Aleutian Island chain looking to survey and catalog marine life. The result was a visually stimulating and very informative presentation. It also inspired me to someday dive the Aleutians, an area of the state I have yet to visit. Until I do, I will have to live vicariously through the book that resulted from that expedition. I picked it up at the Seagrant office in Anchorage two days ago and am very pleased that I did. This is not just a coffee table book with neat pictures. It describes the natural history of this islands. some of which were invaded and held by Japanese soldiers in WWII and from which we launched airstrikes against the Japanes home islands in a nearly-forgotten aspect of the war, but I digress.
Many of the critters featured in the book will be familiar to West Coast divers as some of the species range falong the rim of fire from Mexico to Russian and beyond. Its just up here they are shallower and larger. What is amazing is that this is truly one of the least dived spots in the Western hemisphere and its part of the US. The logistics of getting down the chain conspire to keep it that way. As Alaska diving becomes more noticed, like with the Inside Passge diving in Southeast Alaska offered by Nautilus Explorer and a boat that will begin doing trips deep into PWS next summer, the Aleutians will remain just out of reach for most of us, or consist of diving in area around Unalaska and Dutch Horbor.
This book is unique, in a unique class with The Emerald Sea: Exploring the Underwater Wilderness by Dale Sanders and to a lesser extent the visually wonderful Sea of Light by Richard Salas as they introduce the reader to a world that is temptingly close but inaccessibly distant for many. These are not tropical coral reefs shown in the book; its better than that.
A few years ago I attended an evening lecture at University of Alaska at Anchorage about an expedition of discovery sponsored by the university at sailed down the Aleutian Island chain looking to survey and catalog marine life. The result was a visually stimulating and very informative presentation. It also inspired me to someday dive the Aleutians, an area of the state I have yet to visit. Until I do, I will have to live vicariously through the book that resulted from that expedition. I picked it up at the Seagrant office in Anchorage two days ago and am very pleased that I did. This is not just a coffee table book with neat pictures. It describes the natural history of this islands. some of which were invaded and held by Japanese soldiers in WWII and from which we launched airstrikes against the Japanes home islands in a nearly-forgotten aspect of the war, but I digress.
Many of the critters featured in the book will be familiar to West Coast divers as some of the species range falong the rim of fire from Mexico to Russian and beyond. Its just up here they are shallower and larger. What is amazing is that this is truly one of the least dived spots in the Western hemisphere and its part of the US. The logistics of getting down the chain conspire to keep it that way. As Alaska diving becomes more noticed, like with the Inside Passge diving in Southeast Alaska offered by Nautilus Explorer and a boat that will begin doing trips deep into PWS next summer, the Aleutians will remain just out of reach for most of us, or consist of diving in area around Unalaska and Dutch Horbor.
This book is unique, in a unique class with The Emerald Sea: Exploring the Underwater Wilderness by Dale Sanders and to a lesser extent the visually wonderful Sea of Light by Richard Salas as they introduce the reader to a world that is temptingly close but inaccessibly distant for many. These are not tropical coral reefs shown in the book; its better than that.
