I love the ocean so I was excited to DIVE into this. It was very informative and super interesting. I do feel like it was quite repetitive at times and Helen Scales evidently loves sperm whales, but I found it pretty fun.

It was a bit dense at times but I don't know a lot about the deep ocean so that's to be expected. Also... is Scales actually her surname? Because that's a great surname for a marine biologist - just saying.

Despite having a keen interest in both biology and nature, prior to reading ‘The Brilliant Abyss,’ I had very little knowledge of the deep ocean and its’ ecosystems. Having read the book as a novice, I did learn a great deal and often found myself quoting interesting factoids to my long-suffering wife. However, unlike my usual ‘fun’ science facts, she actually found many of the gems provided from this book genuinely interesting.

Scales narrative is clear and engaging throughout, making ‘The Brilliant Abyss’ an accessible introduction to the deep ocean. I found parts one and two truly fascinating and thoroughly enjoyed learning about the deep ocean marine life and ecosystems. The third part of the book, focusing on our exploitation of these ecosystems, made for a more difficult but important read.

Overall, ‘The Brilliant Abyss’ is an excellent read and an important examination of the deep ocean. I would recommend This book to anyone with an interest in science or nature, and will certainly look out for future books by Helen Scales.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book! I love learning about the deep sea and animals, so it was fascinating with engaging writing. I'd definitely recommend it.
thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

I love stuffing my brain full of fascinating and mindblowing facts about the natural world. And this book is a feast of information about the deep sea. Geography lessons on how it formed and the lay of the underwater land including the deep trenches and abyssal plains. Followed by a deep dive into the array of mysterious wildlife that eke out a living in some of the most inhospitable places in the world.

One of the things I love about the natural world is that there is always more to learn and discover, especially in the oceans. There were so many things in this book I didn’t even know I didn’t know. So every page was a new discovery , another bizarre alien species that seems like it couldn’t be real. And these discoveries are being made all the time. The deep sea is the final frontier on our planet.

The first half or so of the book is a exploration of the deep abyss and the second half looks at the many challenges that threaten this magical underwater world.

The second half I did find a bit more challenging as it shifted away from the creatures of the deep to look at all the threats facing them. Including, of course, plastic pollution, climate change and overfishing, but also an area that was new to me (to my horror) deep sea mining.

I think it’s important to raise awareness of these issues but I did find it very depressing to realise that many of the amazing species I had just learnt about probably face imminent extinction.

This book, I think, is a timely scientific and well-researched look at the human threats to our oceans, in light of the recent flawed (but still important) Seaspiracy Netflix documentary. Although it is not without its own biases of course.

For example, Scales (nice bit of normative determinism!) does seem to be particularly critical of the Marine Stewardship Council, conveniently leaving out some facts to suit her argument. However, as I personally don’t agree with eating fish anyway (except coastal communities who rely on fish for their food and livelihoods) this personally wasn’t an issue for me.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves marine biology and has a curious mind. It is also an ideal and timely book to pick up if you would like to learn more about the challenges our ocean ecosystems face after watching Seaspiracy.

I adored this book! The author deftly describes and recounts in clear detail the topographies, organisms, and extraordinary ecosystem deep ocean. It was inspiring and left me wanting to know more. The author's passion and expertise is clear on every page of this book.

Reading this book was such an active read for me. It made me think. It posed difficult and, at times, uncomfortable questions which I enjoyed reflecting on.

I felt illustrations or images could have benefitted the reader throughout. Although I gather these may be available in a hard copy of the book(?).

In The Brilliant Abyss marine biologist Helen Scales vividly brings alive the extraordinary ecosystem of the deep ocean—a realm about which we know less than we do about the Moon—and shows how protecting rather than exploiting it will benefit mankind. It illuminates the majesty and marvels of the deep sea. The deep is the single biggest habitable space on the planet and home to fantastic creatures that have evolved unique ways to survive in extreme conditions of super-high pressure, little food or company, and permanent darkness. A golden era of deep-sea science is underway, as scientists uncover more of the hidden living wonders in this vast space. Deep studies are rewriting the very notion of life on earth and hinting at the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. At the same time, scientists are realising just how vital the deep is for the whole of life on earth and seeing how this realm is increasingly threatened by deepening human impacts. More urgently than ever before, the deep sea needs to be known about, celebrated and protected. At the bottom of the Mariana trench, the water is chillingly cold and dark, with a pressure so high it can dissolve shells and exoskeletons. It is the ocean’s deepest point, lying almost 11 kilometres beneath the surface, and it is home to a remarkable crustacean. This shrimp-like creature is called an amphipod and it has an ingenious adaptation to survive the conditions: it uses metallic compounds from mud to make itself a coat that prevents its exoskeleton from dissolving. With this protection, the scavenger can scour the trench for the food that builds up there, funnelled to the bottom by underwater avalanches.

In The Brilliant Abyss, Helen Scales describes amphipods and the many other remarkable creatures that live in the deep sea. Weaving together the latest discoveries with well-known examples, she details the many fascinating adaptations that life has evolved to survive in a world unlike anything at Earth’s surface. There are vampire squid, for example, which hang around in the cold water waiting not for blood-filled prey, but to make edible snowballs out of the flurries of detritus that fall from the ocean surface that are known as marine snow. Then there are corals that started growing more than 4000 years ago and female octopuses that spend five years without food so they can brood a single clutch of eggs. And then there are the inconspicuous ultra-black fish that reflect hardly any light so that they blend into the background. After detailing this diverse underworld, the book takes a darker turn to explore the threats these creatures face from us. Deep-sea fishing is the most well-known example. It is “an industry that yields relatively trivial economic benefits but a fearsome capacity to vandalise our living planet”, writes Scales. An increasing threat lies in projects to mine the seabed to satisfy humanity’s growing demand for metals, particularly to use in the green tech needed for a low-carbon future. The choice is portrayed as one of green or blue, writes Scales, “the greening of global economies pitted against the health and integrity of the blue oceans”.

But she says there is a third path: recycling the metals we have already dug up. These problems are out of sight and out of mind to many. Scales lists why we should care about them, including the deep’s key role in feeding the surface fisheries that many people rely on for food, as well as its mitigating impact on climate change. “In total, a third of humanity’s carbon emissions make their way into the ocean,” she writes, “saving the Earth from an unthinkably swift and catastrophic version of the climate crisis.” While this is pragmatic, I do wish we didn’t have to think up positive ways to exploit an environment in order to convince people that it is worth protecting. The Brilliant Abyss is an enjoyable and accessible introduction to the deep sea, told with a passion that I found infectious. The stories of life’s struggle for survival beneath the waves are both fascinating and compelling and Scales’ evocative descriptions immerses you in the deep blue before you know it. Extensively researched, beautifully detailed and written by an author who is unapologetically passionate and forthright about this subject, I simply didn't want it to end. Packed full of interesting information and apt examples to illustrate her points, this is a must-read for those who care about the health of our oceans and ocean-dwellers. Overall, though, Scales brings to life this important part of our planet. What happens there is something we should all be concerned about. As Scales puts it: “The deep, quite simply, makes this planet habitable.” Unreservedly recommended.

So many words could be used to describe The Brilliant Abyss: eye-opening, curiosity sparking, mind-blowing, fascinating...and Scales writes so engagingly and with such insight and passion, that I now associate all of these words with the deep ocean.

I was pleased that Scales did not shy away from describing the countless negative effects which humans have bombarded the deep ocean with, and the consequences of our current actions - human impact on the ocean is integral to the ocean, sadly, and Scales encourages us to do what we can to mitigate this.

Astounding facts are every few pages; for example, a marble thrown overboard would take SIX HOURS to reach the sea bed, and life has been found in toxic brine pools which we thought uninhabitable. I finished this book - which is neither a doorstop nor a pamphlet - feeling like I had so much more to learn, and wanting to continue reading more about this fascinating subject.

Helen Scales draws the reader into the wonder and diversity of life in the deepest realms of the oceans. Far from being a desolate, barren place, there are bizarre and awe-inspiring lifeforms which have adapted to make the most of the darkness, high pressure and extreme temperatures.

Scales describes the varied terrain on the sea bed; seamounts, abyssal plains, canyons and trenches. Her descriptions conveyed her passion for her subject. I had to keep stopping and looking up species she mentioned.

Scales explains how little we know about such a vast area of the planet. She highlights ways in which research of the deep is contributing to advances in medical treatments, she outlines the horrific damage the human race is inflicting through trawling, the oil industry, and pollution, and she urges us to take note, to respect and protect this wonderful realm.

DNF
I was really looking forward to this book as I find the sea, especially it's creatures so interesting. Unfortunately this book didn't hit the mark for me. I read to 50% but at that point I was forcing myself to carry on rather than enjoying it so I decided to stop.
The book is more like a scientific journal than a nature book and sadly I found it rather dull at time. There were some really interesting points but thebwriting lacked personality and there was zero humour which my favourite nature books often have. So unfortunately it wasn't for me

I've read a lot of natural history/pop science books about the oceans over the last few years, so it's getting harder to impress me. While it has its moments, 'The Brilliant Abyss' didn't seize my imagination as previous reads have.

For starters, the choice in narrative structure threw me off. We begin by seeing right through the author's eyes as she embarks on a research trip in the Gulf of Mexico to explore the deeps. It's a compelling introduction, but soon we disconnect completely from the author's experience as she delivers what feels like a series of undergraduate-level lectures on various denizens of the depths, focusing particularly on - dare I say - less charismatic species such as sponges and sea cucumbers. We do occasionally pop back to see what the author's getting up to onboard her vessel, but the disconnect remains; I still don't understand the purpose of the interludes in the Gulf because no actual science or exploration takes place (instead we're shown the control room where pilots are remotely operating the submersible). I was so curious to find out more about the author herself - what sparked her fascination with the deep sea, what journeys has her previous research taken her on? As it is, it feels like the book could have been written by a journalist relying on internet research.

The book gets a lot less dry once Scales moves onto the bigger ecosystem picture, and the last third of the book is an impassioned plea to protect the deep seas against human avarice. That said, I dismayed by her overt bias against the Marine Stewardship Council (full disclosure: I work for them). As an example, she mentions that the MSC was called up in front of the Environmental Audit Committee in 2019; but she chooses not to mention that the committee's conclusions about the MSC were highly positive.

(With thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for a copy of this ebook, in exchange for an honest review)

The deep sea is a fascinating and terrifying place. With so much of it yet to be discovered and explored, that is an uncharted amount of knowledge we can gain from the rich and beautiful abyss. However, with exploration also comes exploitation as an environment that has taken millions of years to evolve can be wiped out in an instance by human exploitation.

The Brilliant Abyss is written by Dr Helen Scales, a marine biologist who has a whole wealth of knowledge about these mysterious waters. She takes us through the luck of discovering new species and the unique way they have adapted to source food in the dark depths, through to the plethora of sponges and corals that make these waters their home. She also discusses the unique and delicate ecosystems of the deep and how essential they are to the global climate, by absorbing a lot of human generated warming to the planet, as well as the new potential medical finds. The deep, although still largely mysterious, is vastly important to our world.

Although incredibly facinating and well researched, there's only so much interest I have in regards to sponges and protocells. The writing does lean towards the dry side at times, and gets very heavily into describing the intricate details of the abyss which got a bit tiresome after a while. I much preferred the chapters on the various creatures who live here, although I found I was constantly looking up what they looked like. I read the ARC so am unsure if the finished copy will have pictures but this would have greatly enhanced my reading experience.

I also really liked the chapters examining the environmental impact humans are having on the deep. Microbial resistance via diluted human effluence is not something I've ever thought about, but its a terrifying reality. As is the realisation that we could, in the very near future, begin mining in the deep for mineral which could ultimately destroy millions of homes for creatures we know nothing about, and therefore their potential to help us.

Greatly detailed read that suffers with a lack of pictures to really visualise this environment and too much information on sponges for me personally. However, altogether a fantastic read for anyone interested in the deep sea.