Into the Deep

Earth's five oceans are one of the wonders of the solar system: they cover the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, our planet's most extensive mountain range; host the Great Barrier Reef - the largest structure built by living organisms; and provide the habitat for Earth's most extreme lifeforms - the denizens of the deep, nightmarish apparitions bristling with fangs and fluorescence. Yet despite its proximity and riches, in many ways we know more about the surface of Mars than we know about the deep ocean. "Into the Deep" charts our exploration of Earth's final frontier and its inhabitants as it descends from bright coral reefs to the eternal, cold darkness of the abyss. It is a voyage that will astonish the reader - just as the latest deep sea discoveries regularly confound scientists - as they meet the Giant Squid's bigger brother, the Colossal Squid, and encounter the utterly alien environment that surrounds 'black smokers' - hydrothermal rifts in the Earth's crust.