Ocean Art: From the Shore to the Deep

by Helen Scales

Artists have captured the marvels of ocean life throughout history. From fine art to scientific illustrations, these portrayals help us to appreciate and interpret the diversity of shapes, colours and patterns of the remarkable organisms that inhabit the oceans of the world.
In Ocean Art, marine biologist and writer Helen Scales takes readers on a tour of ocean art, looking for the most striking and meaningful depictions of sea creatures, from ancient times to modern and from the coast to the deepest abyss, reflecting on how these works influence our view of life beneath the waves. This richly illustrated celebration of the beauty and wonders of ocean life is also a call to cherish and protect the endangered living seas.

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2025

About the author

In their review of my first book, Poseidon’s Steed, the Economist called me “The aptly named Helen Scales” and I guess they’re right. I do have a bit of a thing about fish (get it?).

Across the airways and in print, I’m noted for my distinctive and occasionally offbeat voice that combines a scuba diver’s devotion to exploring the oceans, a scientist’s geeky attention to detail, a conservationist’s angst about the state of the planet, and a storyteller’s obsession with words and ideas.

I have a Cambridge PhD and a monofin, I’ve drunk champagne with David Attenborough and talked seahorse sex on the Diane Rehm show. I spent four years (on and off) chasing after big fish in Borneo and another year cataloguing marine life surrounding 100 Andaman Sea islands.

These days I write books and articles, I make podcasts and radio, travel the world in search of stories, and do my best to spend as much time as I can in the sea as a scuba diver, free diver and rookie surfer. I’m a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the steering committee for the Museum of Curiosity. I’m also a proud aunt, I sew dresses, grow organic vegetables, put on high heels and dance Argentine tango, play piano, sing in the shower, and make a mess in a printmaking studio.

Reviews

[Abby Fergz · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful!

"Life in the ocean has an ephemeral beauty that is very quickly lost when those living things are taken from their habitats, Colours fade. Delicate bodies collapse into shapeless goo. Often, all that is left is pallid ghosts of the bodies that once rippled and pulsed through the water, or raced at high speed with bodies like bullets of polished steel, or glittered with their own inbuilt lights,or sprouted from the seabed, growing into so many intricate aquatic forests and meadows."

[Zeph · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautiful book blending art and science and people's relationship with the ocean. I like how Helen scales has organised the artwork by area of the ocean, but I would've liked to see a bit more chronology to see the evolution of ocean art through the history of humanity.