One of the joys of living in Canberra in that we are so close to the south coast a its extraordinary diving and snorkelling sites. Many divers are obsessed with the tropics: the Great Barrier Reef and the South Pacific, but just here we have rocky reefs in temperate waters that support an abundance of life of great diversity and complexity. A fair amount of material has been published on the fish life (mainly for the huge recreational fishing industry), much less on the invertebrates, alga and plants and still less on how they integrate.
Under Southern Seas fills a void. It has fabulously informative chapters of jellyfish, abalone, sea urchins, sessile animals and the kelp forests and some exquisite detail on fish behaviour, taking us beyond the usual descriptions of appearance and edibility.
This book will add understanding and meaning for anyone who puts their eyes under the surface or wanders around the shore.