Our Book Pick This Month: Ocean Soul

Brian Skerry has photographed ocean life for more than 30 years, many of them on assignment for National Geographic. With his new book, Ocean Soul, Skerry has partnered with National Geographic and Conservation International to raise awareness of the plight of the world's oceans through his photos and stories of marine life.

Skerry divides his 150 color photos into four chapters, each focusing on a different type of ocean ecosystem and the creatures found there, like Belize's black groupers in "Warm Waters" and the gentoo penguins of Antarctica in "Cold Waters." The photos, ranging from leatherback turtles in Trinidad to right whales in the New Zealand, are first-rate, as befits a National Geographic photographer, but they're nothing you haven't seen anywhere else. There are no photos of the things harming or killing the ocean's soul, like the effects of shark finning or climate change; the focus is on marine life at its best. However, Skerry's personal stories about his encounters with marine life, the preparation and research done before diving in, and the explanations of how he got those world-class shots give the book its heft.

Ocean Soul is worth putting on your coffee table, but it's really targeting those unfamiliar with or new to scuba diving, to show them the wonders of the waters. The 13" x 11" hardbound book has 256 pages and a list price of $50. Go to www.undercurrent.org to follow our link to buy it on Amazon, and our cut of the proceeds go toward saving the marine environments Skerry features in his book.