The deep ocean is a scary but wondrous place, and Helen Scales succeeds in projecting her passion for the sea in this book.
We start with some mindblowing facts - for example, if you droped a marble from a boat on the high seas it would take SIX HOURS to reach the sea bed - and I did really enjoy most of the writing about the weird creatures that live and thrive in the deep ocean.
I found the chapters discussing deep sea mining and the plastics found in oceans (and ocean creatures, sadly) very interesting and overall balanced.
Occasionally the author seemed to slip into textbook mode and write paragraphs upon paragraphs of information about sea snails, worms or coral which did make my eyes glaze over a little as a lay person in this realm!
Would recommend overall.
3.5 stars

For any science-lover looking for more information on the least-known place on the planet, this book delivers wonderful tidbits of creatures and climates that are still mostly unknown. Scales is conversational while not shying away from technical jargon. Readers will come away with a new respect for deep sea life and a renewed spirit to combat climate change. If the deep sea goes, we all go.

A fascinating educational read from a writer who is well on the way to becoming one of my favourite nature writers.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

'20000 Leagues under the sea' was one of my favourite books as a kid, and my friends and I were so inspired by it that we would play at being in Nautilus all the time. Reading this book felt like taking a vacation on the Nautilus. That's how evocative and wonderfully written this book is. There have been many books written about the deep and its wonders-from the seminal and genre-defining ('Moby Dick'), to the pulpy, to the more personal (Philip Hoare's excellent books). Helen Scales manages to give you yet another perspective, a wide-ranging one, on the ocean itself and not as a metaphor for anything else. And there are enough wonders to make this book as compelling as any of those other narratives.
The book is loosely divided into 4 major sections. The first explores the formation of the oceans, the evolution of life, the unique topographies. Scales is the perfect chronicler for this-she goes a lot beyond reams of impressive numbers and gives you a great sense of the actual scale of it. When it comes to describing the myriad creatures of the ocean too, she has a beautiful chapter about the leviathans, of course, they dominate the popular imagination to such an extent, but she also has a fascinating account of creatures at the other end of the size chart, and their evolutionary details are no less compelling. She ahs a particularly delightful chapter that riffs on Disney's version of 'The little mermaid', and all the real life creatures that could make those animations come to life.
The next section explores the extreme conditions of the oceans-extremities of depth, heat and pressure, and how even in all those conditions (as Dr.Malcolm would say), life finds a way. I loved her description of geothermal vents and the complex ecosystems they support, including snails that evolved shells made of iron to survive those. Spectacular stuff.
THe third section is all the ways oceans are necessary for life on earth, for being the medium that catalysed life itself, to obvious ways, like temperature regulators and carbon dioxide sinks, and less obvious ways. Scales shows you how the planet evolved, to keep things in balance, and oceans are a large part of that.
The fourth section, and the most deeply distressing, is the effect humans have had on the ocean through all the ways we interact with it. As one can imagine, it's been completely deleterious-from the mass slaughters of whales, mechanised fishing that's causing the extinction of creatures that have existed since literally hundreds of thousands of years, the use of the deep as a giant dumping yard, and the awful spectre of deep sea mining. Scales does not pull her punches at all. It's absolutely horrifying-specially given how invested you are in the deep after all those previous chapters of the wonderful variety of life forms it supports. She ends on a hopeful note, with ways in which as an individual you can use your bit, and ways in which government bodies are slowly recognising the dangers of ignoring centuries of harm already done.
This is an excellent ,thought-provoking, completely immersive read ( no pun intended), and one of the best non fiction books this year.

what an argument against late stage capitalism here after a charming exploration of random deep sea inhabitants. Scales doesn't quite bring the deep alive (idk if it's her tone, the lack of pictures, or just me) but she makes a compelling case for its uniqueness. Which is why when she moves onto the ways people want to exploit the deep I mentally kept screaming b/c omg, one time destructive resource extraction HAS WORKED SO WELL FOR US BEFORE, ecosystems and communities have all bounced back no problem right?! So yes, Scales does such a persuasive job as I finished this book quite alarmed for the future of the planet/deep.

The deep sea is a frightening, awe-inspiring place. Throughout history human beings have trafficked across the oceans on trade missions and explorations, but until relatively recently they could only guess at what lay underneath their ships’ hulls. This mysteriousness has provided fertile ground for myths and legends. We’ve imagined the deep as a place where monsters dwell; but the reality is, in many ways, stranger and more inspiring. In The Brilliant Abyss, marine biologist and broadcaster Helen Scales offers a guided tour of this astounding, under-explored region of our planet. She also argues urgently for the need to protect it from the growing threat of national interest and corporate exploitation. For anyone with an amateur interest in marine biology, this work is a perfect way to indulgence that curiosity. It will leave you wanting more in the best possible way.

(full review available at Bookbrowse)

Helen Scales is a trained marine biologist writing on the wonders of the deepest parts of our oceans, the industrialization that threatens them, and what we can do to protect the last unexplored places on our planet.

This has a ton of info! Like, so much, it read like a textbook. I leaned so many interesting things that I never knew, or never even considered about ocean life. But everything was helpfully explained in relevant footnotes, and there was a an additional personal note as Scales speaks about her own experiences. It made me want to research more as soon as I finished the book.

What I liked the best is that, while Scales was clear on the actions that most threaten the deep waters of our planet, she also includes notes of what we as individuals can do in response as well as the larger developmental changes that need to be made. The inclusion at the end of the book of a myriad of other sources, documentaries, movies and television, scientific journals, and organizations working to protect the oceans was especially appreciated.

This book is well written and seems to be well researched. It was very educational.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Looking out over the surface of the ocean is always awe-inspiring. After reading this book, I now realize that I’m gazing at the border of a strange and wondrous land, perhaps the last real wilderness on our planet.

This book is nature writing at its best—offering a new lens into the world. We’ve only recently discovered so much about life in oceans, especially the depths where light never reaches. Whatever you thought you knew about marine life, you’ll learn new things here.

The book reveals a few of the strange and wondrous things in the dark waters:

* Fish that live in the dark and provide their own light
* Strange creatures that collapse into nothingness when brought to the surface
* Whales that use sonar to dive-bomb giant squid in the depths

This is a different kind of "beach read." Even if you cannot escape to the seaside this summer, spend some time in its waters with this book.

Really glad to have got an arc of this, love learning more about exploring the deep unknown of the oceans. This book was mostly interesting and learnt abit, some parts were a bit slowed than others. Ultimately good, educational and fascinating book.

In this book, marine biologist and writer Helen Scales discusses the deep ocean, the wondrous creatures and environments of the abyss, and how humans can affect this virtually unexplored region. The book is divided into four parts, with a total of 12 chapters.

In the Prelude, Scales describes what it was like watching a deep sea submersible vehicle provide a video feed of marine life on the ocean floor, 6600 feet below the surface.

In part one Scales covers the geography of the deep abyss, and our current knowledge of the topography of the ocean floor; with mid-ocean ridges and abyssal plains of mud. She describes the vastness of the abyss, the diversity of life, and how many unknown species dwell in the depths. Scales discusses the life cycles and the communication of whales, as well as other interesting creatures like bone-eating worms. We also learn about the history of Ernst Haeckel, and his discoveries of gelatinous creatures. Scales describes various squid and octopus, the phenomenon of bio-luminescence , and the wonders of hydrothermal vents.

In part two, Scales explains why the deep ocean is so important to the climate, and how the changes brought on by human activity could eventually cause a catastrophic cascade of environmental disasters. She details how scientists are anxious to extract bio-active compounds from marine life that contain unique molecular structures, in order to develop new medicines. In part three, Scales discusses overfishing, deep sea pollution, and the recent efforts to extract ore and other materials from the ocean floor; and what the ecological consequences of all of this could be. Part four discusses conservation efforts, new technologies, and ways to protect the deep ocean for the future.

Overall this was a very informative and interesting book. There was so much that I didn't know about the deep ocean, and the way the author vividly described the creatures and environments, I felt like I could imagine being down there in a sub. I wish there were tons of pictures in the book, but that is probably my only complaint.

The deepest reaches of the sea feel more alien than actual space despite our proximity. There is so much to wonder over.
I love a good environmental science book and Scales work certainly fits the bill. Her passion is clear, her message is clearer--we must protect all the gloriously weird life that exists in the abyss. Scales does a great job making it seem like a very bad idea to continue to pollute the sea and use it for our own dumping grounds. A definite recommend for those interested in science books, environmental concerns, and the sea!

The Brilliant Abyss was both enlightening and devastating. It was my first ARC, and to prove I adored it, I highlighted 79 passages while reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By: Dr, Helen Scales

The ARC reading experience was difficult because none of the sections or chapters were separated (it was one never ending chapter which is why it took me three months to read) and none of the beautiful images from the final novel were in the proof. I’m sure the final book will be much cleaner.

Synopsis:

Divided into 4 uneven parts, the first half, or part one, discusses the diverse and barely explored life of the creatures in the deep sea. This deep sea biologist focuses on describing, in beautiful detail, the creatures she’s had the pleasure of seeing (with a remote controlled submersible) specifically in and around seamounts (underwater mountains) and hydrothermal vents. For the first half of the book you learn about the delicate balance of marine life miles below the surface of the water.

Then we get to part two and realize that not only is it interesting, the deep sea is fundamental for the health of our society. The deep sea absorbs carbon, helping offset emissions, but more importantly, creatures living in the deep sea could hold the cure to countless diseases, including cancer.

When I got to part 3 and 4, I flew through the book in a day. It was soul crushing. She details the devastation of deep sea fishing for orange roughie, that could live up to 250 and only mate every 40. This population isn’t bouncing back. Even worse, whole ecosystems will be destroyed once deep sea mining projects go into effect, including delicate microbial communities that have taken millions of years to evolve. Animals we didn’t know existed until recently could go extinct.
The worst part, this is seen as a foregone conclusion. Without mining the sea we might not have enough metals to build the wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars we need to replace fossil fuels.

Her proposal, LEAVE THE DEEP ALONE and explore only for scientific research or to make health related discoveries. Recycle metals and keep working on reinventing green technologies to be less reliant on anything that needs to be mined.

If you are passionate about the environment and the ocean, and are able to get through highly scientific and academic passages, this book will definitely open your eyes.

The brilliant abyss by Helen Scales.
This was not what I thought it would be. I just read it but didn't really enjoy it. 3*.

This book takes us on a journey to the depths of the ocean, the most unknown ecosystem that exists. Personally, the sea has always caught my attention because of the wide variety of species with different characteristics, metabolisms and especially because of the adaptive capacities they present. So as soon as I saw this book I knew I had to read it and it didn't leave me disappointed at all.

The beginning was fantastic, I loved it because it had a documentary-like tone, so it was easy and entertaining to read. The book touches on different points starting with a bit of history according to how life was discovered on the sea, in turn, it deals with interesting topics of adaptation and biochemical metabolism of certain species.

Something that I liked was that the scientific names were explained, it should be noted that the book is written as a narrative by the author of the research they carried out, therefore, it has a personal touch. The beginning of the book lays the foundation for the second part where it focuses on how human activity has impacted and will continue to do so over the years. It really made me reflect on the importance of the seas, so if you have a chance to read it I highly recommend it.

Final thoughts
In general, it's a good book and quite entertaining, I loved the theme and how it developed, especially at the beginning of the book.

"The deep has no stars at night to remind us it is there, and no moon shining down. And yet, this hidden place reaches into our daily lives and makes vital things happen without our knowing."

Is this book for you?
Perfect for: Lovers of the ocean and science.
Do I recommend it? Yes.

Very interesting popular science book about every possible aspect of the deep sea: from it’s geology and biology to its value for human science and economy to threats and dangers it faces at the moment. The first part was most enchanting and thrilling, with descriptions of fascinating, otherworldly creatures – and it strengthened the message, clearly worded later in the book, of the need for protection of these valuable ecosystems. The author notes that we have an opportunity to make things different this time, without exploiting and destroying so vital part of our own planet.

The book is very well written and engaging. You can feel that the author deeply cares about the marine world and her enthusiasm is infectious. If you plan to spend summer months on the sea-side (or at sea), it will be a perfect beach read.

Thanks to the publisher, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

The book is nothing less than a Silent Spring for the deep oceans. I revelled in the deep as I read about the wonders of life in the twilight zone down to the ocean floor. from new information on the ecosystems of black smokers through to new wonders I’d never heard of before including: cold seeps; nodule fields; the amazing snail fish, living almost down to the limits of life in the deep ocean trenches; scaly footed snails and how they deal with toxins, and many others - the deep ocean is so much more alive, complex and marvellous than we ever expected.

Helen then takes on Rachel Carson’s mantle and looks at how nations and corporations are planning to exploit the deep. Our history has shown that industry, profit and environmental protection do not make good bedfellows and plans to exploit the deep sadly follow the same plan. This would not only destroy precious ecosystems that have taken between hundred and millions of years to develop, it could also catastrophically accelerate climate change.

Helen ends book with a rallying cry for us to protect the deep oceans from exploitation before it’s too late and provides actions we can all take in their defence. I would have given it more stars if I could have done, if you love nature read this book.

This is going to be my very first book about the sea that I've ever read so far. I think I'll read some more books about the sea. I love the sea and I've just learned how to swim maybe over 1 year ago and I'm no longer afraid of water and want to learn more about the sea (I usually search about the Mariana trench or Atlantis conspiracy theories). Now, I've got a chance to review this wonderful book where I always wondering for more after reading this. THERE ARE NO PICTURES OR SUCH HERE so it's pretty confusing for me to understand and imagine more about the creatures and the whole situation. Anyway, it's a good book to read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me such a wonderful ARC of this book!

The Brilliant Abyss
By: Helen Scales
288 Pages
✨ Release Date: July 6, 2021

“We now face the possibility of forging a new relationship with the living planet, and we have the chance to decide there are more things we just don’t need and places that are special, unique, and important enough to leave alone – and one of those places is the deep.”

This novel takes place aboard the Pelican, on an adventure to -The Brilliant Abyss-. To learn more about the universe’s greatest mystery – the deep. 🐙

Monsters, demons & deities – Umibozu, Triton, Poseidon, the Jormungandr, Vellamo. All the creatures we suspected to haunt the deepest undiscovered parts of the ocean for centuries.
For the longest time, unaware of the life that truly did inhabit these dark and unknowing depths that exceeded our comprehension.
As humans, we have made so many discoveries about our history through the oceans and discovered vast amounts of life hiding below. And after watching Seaspiracy not long ago, this truly puts into perspective how much we need to start taking care of our oceans.

This book is jam packed with A LOT of information. From discovering how we’ve come to know the seas, our history with whales and the light source they provided - a distillation of energy we harnessed from the deep, to the disproving of Forbes’ azoic theory, seabed mines and so much more.
It puts a lot into perspective and gives us a better grasp as to what is happening below the water’s surface.
Be warned though! This book is quite unique – there’s moments where you’re not sure if you’re apart of the voyage on the Pelican or sitting back in your Science classroom reading a textbook. Highly recommend!
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️