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Everyone knows the story of the Titanic , but in terms of loss of life that catastrophe doesn't even figure as one of the 50 worst maritime disasters of the last three hundred years. The twentieth century was the age of the great ocean vessels, capable of carrying thousands of passengers, but it also became the age of unprecedented losses at sea. The causes of disaster are legion: besides icebergs and enemy torpedoes, ships have been sunk by fire, explosions, flooding, capsizing, storms, collisions and human error. Many of these disasters have been almost forgotten, such as the loss of the Wilhelm Gustloff , the deadliest maritime disaster in history. 10,000 people died when the ship sank in the freezing Baltic, many of them trapped below decks in total darkness. Had they not been German civilians, and had the ship not sunk in January 1945, maybe history would not have largely overlooked the catastrophe. This book tells the stories of the worst maritime disasters in history, not simply in terms of lives lost, but in how far reaching the effects of the disasters were. With disasters from all over the world, these are stories of the people (whether they lived or died) as well as the ships. They are stories of tragedy, war, heroism and cowardice, greed and sacrifice. Only for the lucky few were they also stories of rescue and survival.
For the majority of people, seasickness is the most unpleasant thing they experience at sea. However, beneath the surface is a whole other world, and a lot of it could turn all but the strongest stomachs.

When attacked, the hagfish (also known as the slime eel) ties itself in a knot that travels the length of its body, squeezing out mucus by the bucketful and making it impossible for a predator to keep hold. To eat, a starfish regurgitates its stomach, digests its food then swallows its stomach back down again. Pearlfish stick close to sea cucumbers, whose bowels they swim into when danger's near. And with shark attacks and jellyfish encounters, the oceans take on another level of repulsiveness when man dips his toes in the water.

We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about underwater world, but some of the species covered in this book are beyond even the imagination of science fiction writers. Entertaining yet informative, the idea of this book is not to wallow in grossness with the intention of putting people off their dinner, but to explore just how fascinating and 'alien' our own planet can be.

Highly illustrated, and with stories and anecdotes that help bring a human perspective, this book demystifies the natural world beneath the waves, and shows how it's not quite so shocking when you understand why these creatures have developed the way they have.

For the majority of people, seasickness is the most unpleasant thing they experience at sea. However, beneath the surface is a whole other world, and a lot of it could turn all but the strongest stomachs. When attacked, the hagfish (also known as the slime eel) ties itself in a knot that travels the length of its body, squeezing out mucus by the bucketful and making it impossible for a predator to keep hold. To eat, a starfish regurgitates its stomach, digests its food then swallows its stomach back down again. Pearlfish stick close to sea cucumbers, whose bowels they swim into when danger's near. And with shark attacks and jellyfish encounters, the oceans take on another level of repulsiveness when man dips his toes in the water. We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about underwater world, but some of the species covered in this book are beyond even the imagination of science fiction writers. Entertaining yet informative, the idea of this book is not to wallow in grossness with the intention of putting people off their dinner, but to explore just how fascinating and 'alien' our own planet can be. Highly illustrated, and with stories and anecdotes that help bring a human perspective, this book demystifies the natural world beneath the waves, and shows how it's not quite so shocking when you understand why these creatures have developed the way they have. How to Snog a Hagfish! explores the most bizarre, the most disgusting and the most fascinating creatures that inhabit the oceans.When attacked, the hagfish (also known as the slime eel) ties itself in a knot that travels the length of its body, squeezing out mucus by the bucketful and making it impossible for a predator to keep hold. To eat, a starfish regurgitates its stomach, digests its food then swallows its stomach back down again. Pearlfish stick close to sea cucumbers, whose bowels they swim into when danger's near. And with shark attacks and jellyfish encounters, the oceans take on another level of repulsiveness when man dips his toes in the water.We know more about the surface of the moon than we do the underwater world, but some of the species covered in this book are beyond even the imagination of science fiction writers. Entertaining yet informative, the idea of this book is not to wallow in grossness with the intention of putting people off their dinner, but to explore just how fascinating and'alien'our own planet can be.Highly illustrated, and with stories and anecdotes that help bring a human perspective, this book demystifies the natural world beneath the waves, and shows how it's not quite so shocking when you understand why these creatures have developed the way they have. Annotation How to Snog a Hagfish!explores the most bizarre, the most disgusting and the most fascinating creatures that inhabit the oceans.When attacked, the hagfish (also known as the slime eel) tiesitself in a knot that travels the length of its body, squeezing outmucus by the bucketful and making it impossible for a predator to keephold.To eat, a starfish regurgitates its stomach, digests its food thenswallows its stomach back down again. Pearlfish stick close to sea cucumbers, whose bowels they swiminto when danger's near. And with shark attacks and jellyfishencounters, the oceans take on another level of repulsiveness when mandips his toes in the water.We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about underwater world, but some of the species covered in this book are beyond even theimagination of science fiction writers. Entertaining yet informative,the idea of this book is not to wallow in grossness with theintention of putting people off their dinner, but to explore just howfascinating and 'alien' our own planet can be.Highly illustrated, and with stories and anecdotes that help bring ahuman perspective, this book demystifies the natural world beneath thewaves, and shows how it's not quite so shocking when you understand whythese creatures have developed the way they have
Sailors are a notoriously superstitious lot - even if some won't admit it. Years of taking to the water, at the mercy of uncontrollable (and sometimes deadly) forces, have led even the wisest to seek ways of influencing the gods or fate. From bad omens and odd rituals to lucky tokens and forbidden words, the superstitions of the sea are legion.

Many of these superstitions have refused to go away and quite a few have entered the general public consciousness. Some are amusing in their own right, others have fascinating origins, while for many there are bizarre anecdotal incidents which would appear to lend credence to these arcane beliefs.

Illustrated with quirky cartoons, this book explores nautical superstitions from all over the world in an informative yet entertaining way.

Includes superstitions about: Boatbuilding, naming and launching; Lucky and unlucky dates to sail; People, things and animals not to let on board; Signs and portents at sea; Words not to say (and their alternatives); Predicting the weather; Fishing; and much, much more!

Sailors are a notoriously superstitious lot - even if some won't admit it. Years of taking to the water, at the mercy of uncontrollable (and sometimes deadly) forces, have led even the wisest to seek ways of influencing the gods or fate. From bad omens and odd rituals to lucky tokens and forbidden words, the superstitions of the sea are legion.Many of these superstitions have refused to go away and quite a few have entered the general public consciousness. Some are amusing in their own right, others have fascinating origins, whilst for many there are bizarre anecdotal incidents which would appear to lend credence to these arcane beliefs.Illustrated with quirky cartoons, this book explores nautical superstitions from all over the world in an informative yet entertaining way.Includes superstitions about: Boatbuilding, naming and launching; Lucky and unlucky dates to sail; People, things and animals not to let on board; Signs and portents at sea; Words not to say (and their alternatives); Predicting the weather; Fishing; and much, much more! Sailors are a notoriously superstitious lot - even if some won't admit it. Years of taking to the water, at the mercy of uncontrollable (and sometimes deadly) forces, have led even the wisest to seek ways of influencing the gods or fate. From bad omens and odd rituals to lucky tokens and forbidden words, the superstitions of the sea are legion. Many of these superstitions have refused to go away and quite a few have entered the general public consciousness. Some are amusing in their own right, others have fascinating origins, whilst for many there are bizarre anecdotal incidents which would appear to lend credence to these arcane beliefs. Illustrated with quirky cartoons, this book explores nautical superstitions from all over the world in an informative yet entertaining way. Includes superstitions Boatbuilding, naming and launching; Lucky and unlucky dates to sail; People, things and animals not to let on board; Signs and portents at sea; Words not to say (and their alternatives); Predicting the weather; Fishing; and much, much more! "Sailors are a notoriously superstitious lot - even if some won't admit it. Years of taking to the water, at the mercy of uncontrollable (and sometimes deadly) forces, have led even the wisest to seek ways of influencing the gods or fate. From bad omens and odd rituals to lucky tokens and forbidden words, the superstitions of the sea are legion. Many of these superstitions have refused to go away and quite a few have entered the general public consciousness. Some are amusing in their own right, others have fascinating origins, whilst for many there are bizarre anecdotal incidents which would appear to lend credence to these arcane beliefs. Illustrated with quirky cartoons, this book explores nautical superstitions from all over the world in an informative yet entertaining way."--Publisher's description Everyone knows the story of the Titanic, but in terms of loss of life it doesn't even rate as one of the 50 worst maritime disasters of the last 300 years. The cases of ships sinking are legion: besides icebergs and enemy torpedoes, ships have been sunk by fire, explosions, flooding, capsizing, storms, collisions and human error. Many of these disasters have been almost forgotten, such as the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in 1945, when 10,000 German civilians died in the freezing Baltic, many of them trapped below decks in total darkness. Including maritime disasters from all over the world, Final Voyage tells the stories of both the ships that were lost and the people who were on them. "There are 230,000 known species living in the world's oceans, and this book features the most disgusting of the lot. They include fish that eat birds, sharks that eat reindeer and eels that eat corpses, as well as crabs the size of dogs and giant squid with eyes the size of beachballs ..."--Back cover From fish that eat dead skin and sharks that prey on reindeer to eelsthat can turn seawater into slime and jellyfish with tentacles as longas a train carriage, this book explores the most bizarre, the mostdisgusting and the most fascinating creatures that inhabit the oceans. Everyone knows the story of the Titanic, but in terms of loss of life it doesn't even figure as one of the 50 worst maritime disasters. This book tells the stories of the others, including the almost forgotten sinking that killed 10,000. Exploring the lore of the sea in an entertaining way, this informativebunkside read is full of odd ideas from all over the world that havesurvived the centuries. Quirky cartoons help capture the inherenthumour of superstitions.