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Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton
A delightful A-to-Z menagerie of the sea—whimsically illustrated, authoritative, and thought-provoking.
For millennia, we have taken to the waves. And yet, for humans, the ocean remains our planet’s most inaccessible region, the place about which we know the least. From A to Z, abalone to zooplankton, and through both text and original illustrations, Ocean Bestiary is a celebration of our ongoing quest to know the sea and its creatures.
Focusing on individual species or groups of animals, Richard J. King embarks upon a global tour of ocean wildlife, including beluga whales, flying fish, green turtles, mako sharks, noddies, right whales, sea cows (as well as sea lions, sea otters, and sea pickles), skipjack tuna, swordfish, tropicbirds, walrus, and yellow-bellied sea snakes. But more than this, King connects the natural history of ocean animals to the experiences of people out at sea and along the world’s coastlines. From firsthand accounts passed down by the earliest Polynesian navigators to observations from Wampanoag clamshell artists, African-American whalemen, Korean female divers (or haenyeo), and today’s pilots of deep-sea submersibles—and even to imaginary sea expeditions launched through poems, novels, and paintings—Ocean Bestiary weaves together a diverse array of human voices underrepresented in environmental history to tell the larger story of our relationship with the sea. Sometimes funny, sometimes alarming, but always compelling, King’s vignettes reveal both how our perceptions of the sea have changed for the better and how far we still have to go on our voyage.
For millennia, we have taken to the waves. And yet, for humans, the ocean remains our planet’s most inaccessible region, the place about which we know the least. From A to Z, abalone to zooplankton, and through both text and original illustrations, Ocean Bestiary is a celebration of our ongoing quest to know the sea and its creatures.
Focusing on individual species or groups of animals, Richard J. King embarks upon a global tour of ocean wildlife, including beluga whales, flying fish, green turtles, mako sharks, noddies, right whales, sea cows (as well as sea lions, sea otters, and sea pickles), skipjack tuna, swordfish, tropicbirds, walrus, and yellow-bellied sea snakes. But more than this, King connects the natural history of ocean animals to the experiences of people out at sea and along the world’s coastlines. From firsthand accounts passed down by the earliest Polynesian navigators to observations from Wampanoag clamshell artists, African-American whalemen, Korean female divers (or haenyeo), and today’s pilots of deep-sea submersibles—and even to imaginary sea expeditions launched through poems, novels, and paintings—Ocean Bestiary weaves together a diverse array of human voices underrepresented in environmental history to tell the larger story of our relationship with the sea. Sometimes funny, sometimes alarming, but always compelling, King’s vignettes reveal both how our perceptions of the sea have changed for the better and how far we still have to go on our voyage.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published May 26, 2023
11 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Richard J. King
9 books33 followersRichard J. King is the author most recently of Sailing Alone: a History and Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton. He is also the author Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick, Lobster, The Devil's Cormorant: A Natural History, and Meeting Tom Brady. King has published widely on maritime topics in scholarly and popular magazines. Read more at http://richardjking.info.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 23, 2023
I learned that I'm not a big fan of short entries about a particular topic. Many works of literature and other writers' names were mentioned throughout author, Richard King's book, "Ocean Bestiary." I kept wishing I were reading one of those works instead of this one. That said, there were some interesting tidbits included in the encyclopedia-like entries. For example, chinstrap penguins have pink feet. I'm not sure when this will ever come up in my lifetime, but that factoid has me wanting to see a chinstrap penguin for myself.
If you like to read encyclopedia entries about nature, you will love this book!
NOTE: The full title of this book is Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton (Oceans in Depth). There's another similar title by the same author called, "Sailing Alone: A History and Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton." They are, however, two different books both published in 2023. Apparently, the one I read was published first. He must have had too much material to include in one book, so he wrote two.
If you like to read encyclopedia entries about nature, you will love this book!
NOTE: The full title of this book is Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton (Oceans in Depth). There's another similar title by the same author called, "Sailing Alone: A History and Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton." They are, however, two different books both published in 2023. Apparently, the one I read was published first. He must have had too much material to include in one book, so he wrote two.
June 22, 2025
this was genuinely one of the cutest books ever
im in a fishy mood and i looooove silly looking sea critters and this book delivered! i loved the organization that he picked one animal per alphabet letter. i love the use of little stories to introduce the critters, then going into facts and connected both per chapter. my two favoritest things about this book!:
1. the silly little critter drawings! made it infinitely cuter and enjoyable
2. the mention of historical and cultural significance! for abalone he mentioned korean hanyeo's who should be commended for their diving and dedication to abalone harvesting, and how much abalones contributed to jeju's economy, or how for quahog (clam) he mentioned that they were a form of currency for the wampanoag people, and the shells were turned into beads to use as trade currency, and how it lost importance because of colonization, and it was sooo nice to see that acknowledgement
it made me realize how much we rely on nature and the sea critter, and how they were so important and how we are losing it. such a goofy fun and very light read <3
im in a fishy mood and i looooove silly looking sea critters and this book delivered! i loved the organization that he picked one animal per alphabet letter. i love the use of little stories to introduce the critters, then going into facts and connected both per chapter. my two favoritest things about this book!:
1. the silly little critter drawings! made it infinitely cuter and enjoyable
2. the mention of historical and cultural significance! for abalone he mentioned korean hanyeo's who should be commended for their diving and dedication to abalone harvesting, and how much abalones contributed to jeju's economy, or how for quahog (clam) he mentioned that they were a form of currency for the wampanoag people, and the shells were turned into beads to use as trade currency, and how it lost importance because of colonization, and it was sooo nice to see that acknowledgement
it made me realize how much we rely on nature and the sea critter, and how they were so important and how we are losing it. such a goofy fun and very light read <3
March 30, 2024
Ocean Bestiary is one of the best nature books I've ever read.
The illustrations look wonderful, the information about the sea creatures featured in the book is fascinating, the theme of connection is well-used, and the stories about each person from different cultures are interesting. My favorite moment from the book is the interview with a sea urchin, where the author and the urchin have a funny dynamic with each other, and the urchin tells us some interesting facts about its own kind.
Overall, Ocean Bestiary is an amazing book, and this book is perfect for anyone who loves marine life.
The illustrations look wonderful, the information about the sea creatures featured in the book is fascinating, the theme of connection is well-used, and the stories about each person from different cultures are interesting. My favorite moment from the book is the interview with a sea urchin, where the author and the urchin have a funny dynamic with each other, and the urchin tells us some interesting facts about its own kind.
Overall, Ocean Bestiary is an amazing book, and this book is perfect for anyone who loves marine life.
January 1, 2026
3.5 if I could.
This is probably my fault because I didn't pay attention enough to what exactly this book was about. I was hoping more for scientific facts about the sea life mentioned. I am not as interested really in the human stories. I still learned some interesting things though.
This is probably my fault because I didn't pay attention enough to what exactly this book was about. I was hoping more for scientific facts about the sea life mentioned. I am not as interested really in the human stories. I still learned some interesting things though.
May 16, 2025
interesting but a little too cutesy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews