Exploring Britain's Hidden World: A Natural History of Seabed Habitats (Wild Nature Press 10)

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 remainlargely unseen and unexplored except by marine scientists anddivers, who have been documenting their wondrous discoveries overmany years. Now, a wealth of information about what lives on and inthe seabed has been brought together in one sumptuously illustratedvolume. Keith Hiscock describes the incredible variety of marinelife that exists around Great Britain, providing a foundation ofknowledge for those interested in the natural history of theshallow seabed. He explains how findings are gathered andorganised, as well as showing what is out there and how it works.Fascinating, beautiful and often fragile, the habitats and marinelife described are essential to the health and productivity of ouroceans. Without an adequate, shared understanding of what and wherethey are, how can we identify and protect them? ExploringBritain's Hidden World is the culmination of 50 years ofresearch by the author to better understand where differentsubtidal seabed habitats occur and how their associated marine lifehas come to exist. That quest draws on a rich vein of knowledgeobtained by many naturalists, scientists and divers who, for almost200 years, have described seabed communities and sought tounderstand their structure and function. Using a minimum oftechnical terminology, Keith Hiscock combines his interests inmarine biology, diving and photography to inform, inspire, andleave a vivid and lasting impression of the marine habitats andspecies around Britain. He hopes this book will provide newinsights, much pleasure, and perhaps some surprises too.

Cover Page Title Page Dedication Page Copyright Page Contents Foreword Preface Using this book Exploration and discovery: the first 150 years Early days Systematic studies – remote sampling Diving and video surveys Gathering knowledge and creating information – the past 50 years or so Remote sampling and observation Scuba diving takes off How we made sense of it all (biotopes) Shaping the seabed environment Britain’s place in the world Ocean currents Wave action Tidal currents Wave action and tidal currents together Light and depth Salt and fresh Weather events Modifying factors Physical and biological factors: bringing it all together Habitats Sediments Open coast rocky areas Wrecks and other artificial substrata Sea lochs Rias and voes Tidal sounds and other extremely tide-swept habitats Estuaries Saline lagoons Species as habitats Change Seasons in the sea Human activities Decadal scale change Non-native species Seawater warming What you can do Protecting what we have Threats and sensitivities Protection Marine protected areas – what they will and will not do Restoration? Research The dilemma of non-native species What you can do Technology takes off Finding information Making seabed biology information ‘useful’ Visualisation Collecting information Glossary Biotopes listed and illustrated Index Acknowledgements The author The sponsors