The Living Seas (the beauty and fascination of the underwater life here in the warm waters surrounding Southern Arabia)

The Living Seas

By: Frances Dipper, Tony Woodward

The sea holds a particular fascination for most people, even those who do not need it or use it for their livelihood. Here in the Gulf, the major population centres have almost all developed along the coastline and the sea is vitally important to the people’s lives and the countries’ wealth. However, apart from tantalising glimpses gleaned from walks along the beach and visits to the teeming fish souks, the wealth of life beneath the sea remains hidden for most people. Those of us who have learned to dive are lucky – we can go and look for ourselves, albeit for only short periods at a time. We share an interest in the sea that developed differently for each of us.

For Frances(FD), it stemmed from childhood and the early-Hans Hass and Cousteau underwater films, culminating in eventually qualifying as a marine biologist.

For Tony (TW) it started on a beach when he first began to notice the aesthetic quality of shells. The desire for greater knowledge led to spending every opportunity wandering along beaches and drifting over reefs and rocks, to observe and absorb nature’s handiwork at its most varied. It is an obvious progression, that we should want some of our experiences to be passed on to those who are asking the same questions today that we asked when seeing strange objects for the first time many years ago. Not that we have all the answers – no one can begin to have – but we hope we are able to bring the rudiments of a vast and interesting subject within the grasp of others.

In this book we have tried to share with you some of our underwater adventures and, through the photographs, to bring to you something of the beauty and fascination of the underwater life here in the warm waters surrounding Southern Arabia. It is not a comprehensive field guide to marine life of the region, nor is it intended to be a specific study of any particular group of animals. Rather we hope to introduce the reader to some of the more fascinating life forms that exist above and below the tideline, where to find them and why they occur where they do. Therefore we have arranged this book in sections, each of which covers the animals and plants found in specific habitats or areas such as sandy beaches of shipwrecks. Obviously there will be some overlap, especially with mobile animals such as fish.

We hope that the book will be enjoyed both by those who do not like to get too wet – the beach stroller, naturalist or armchair enthusiast – and by the growing band of those who do, the snorkellers and scuba divers. Should it lead to anyone going one step further and taking the subject more seriously, then that would be sufficient reward, and although books on Gulf waters are scarce, the bibliography should help those interested.

Language: English
ISBN: 9781873544105
Paperback, 96 pages