What do you think?
Rate this book
Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World
Nobel Prize winner Al Gore wrote of Deborah Cramer's previous book Great Waters , "I urge everyone to read this book, to act on its message, and to pass on its teachings." Now Cramer offers a groundbreaking book for an even more urgent time. Our lives depend on the sea. As gifted science writer Deborah Cramer makes clear in this extraordinary volume, the ocean has been earth's lifeline for more than three and a half billion years. Life began in the scalding inferno of deep-sea hot springs. The first cell, the first plant, and the first animal were all born in the sea. Climate changes wrought by the sea created evolutionary pathways for mammals and gave rise to our human ancestors some 200,000 years ago. The one, interconnected sea still sustains us. Invisible plants in the ocean's sunlit surface give us air to breathe. Rushing currents supply water to the atmosphere's protective greenhouse and rain to dry land. But as Cramer reveals in this sweeping look at earth's biography, the vital partnership between earth and the life it nourishes has recently been disrupted. Today, a single terrestrial species, man, has begun to alter the health of the sea itself. The mark of humans on the seas is now everywhere—from the fertile waters of continental shelves to the icy reaches of the poles, from the dazzling diversity of coral reefs to the porous edge of estuaries. Even the open ocean bears clear traces of our harmful ways. Scientists believe human impact may have already sparked a catastrophic event that could change the sea and the earth the sixth mass planetary extinction on a scale unseen since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But unlike the forces that caused previous extinctions, humankind can make a choice. We can choose the mark we wish to make and the legacy we leave behind. Written in the passionate tradition of Rachel Carson, Smithsonian Ocean is at once a book for our time and for the ages. Carson "One way to open your eyes is to ask What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" Cramer's powerful and inspiring message is equally a wake-up "We hold earth's life-giving waters—and our future—in our hands." Our lives depend on the sea.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 25, 2026
I was inspired to re-read this book by a recent fictional read (Be the Sea), and by nostalgic memories of being able to see the Smithsonian Natural History Museum’s new ocean hall (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibit... ) before it opened almost 20 years ago. That was a precious memory for a young biologist, tinged now with worry for the future of both museums in our country and how the US’s retrograde action on climate change and conservation law will impact our world for decades to come. Either way, I enjoyed revisiting this beautiful book.
The pictures are spectacular, of course, but to use this only as an ornamental coffee table book would be to miss all the wonderful informative details. For example:
-“There life emerged and evolved. The first living cell was born in the scalding waters of deep-sea hot springs…A nurturing sea gave rise to earth’s…first plant, first animal. We are, essentially, specialized fish.”
(I smiled to see this, because I had JUST been explaining to someone that, just as you can’t have a sensible evolutionary grouping called “dinosaurs” that excludes birds, a sensible evolutionary grouping called “fish” has to include land vertebrates!)
-That there is a green sulfur bacterium that can photosynthesize by the light of hydrothermal vents!
-That the early animals recorded in Ediacaran fossils include one with three-part symmetry not seen in any lineage today.
- That we have known that eels - a fish humans have eaten for centuries- breed in the Sargasso Sea for a long time, but still no one had yet (as of 2008, anyway) observed the spawning.
- “The Permian catastrophe probably began with a volcanic eruption more immense than any humanity has witnessed…eruptions in Siberia may have lasted for one million years…The eruptions burned through…the world’s largest coal basin…During the Permian extinction, oxygen levels dropped to 12%…The combination - too little oxygen, too much carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide and increasingly acidity - was disastrous.”
-But also: "Earth's previous mass extinctions were catastrophic...but the timing may have been leisurely. The Great Dying of the Permian...when 90% of marine life disappeared, took place over 160,000 years...we humans...are accelerating the pace of extinction. Already a hundred times higher than before our arrival, it will become, if current trends continue, a thousand times greater in the next decades."
The latter is a rather depressing quote, given that over the last 20 years our national and global leadership has largely failed to take action on climate change to the degree that we already knew was necessary; that reefs continue to bleach in warming, acidifying waters; and that the seas have continued to fill with plastic.
But there are bright spots. In 2008, this book records, less than 1% of the ocean was designated as a protected area. As of 2026 it was up to 9.8% (https://mpatlas.org/)- still far short of the 20-30% conservationists call for, but progress nonetheless. The highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale as of 2025 is up to 380 total individuals, including 70 breeding females (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/specie... not enough to get complacent, since they still face many threats and high mortality rates but, rather than being gone by now, they are hanging in there! The Chesapeake Bay was described as a nearly-dead estuary; as of 2020, the anoxic area (low oxygen ‘dead zone’) in the bay was the smallest it had been in 35 years (https://www.anchorqea.com/insights/ar... ), indicating that despite warmer temperatures, efforts to rein in nutrient runoff and restore oyster beds are paying off (see https://www.allianceforthebay.org and https://www.chesapeakebay.net/ ). So the conclusion of this book still holds:
“Our chapter in earth’s history has yet to close…Unlike the animals that came before us, we can choose the legacy we leave…We can choose a legacy of stewardship…whose principles, derived from the nature of the sea itself, are these:
- that the sea is the source and sustainer of all life, including ours;
- that we are but one species among many;
- that earth history recorded in ancient seafloor illuminates our present and intimates a future;
- that earth’s ocean waters are joined in a single, flowing sea;
- that wherever we live, however we live, we touch the sea and therefore share responsibility for its health and well-being.”
The pictures are spectacular, of course, but to use this only as an ornamental coffee table book would be to miss all the wonderful informative details. For example:
-“There life emerged and evolved. The first living cell was born in the scalding waters of deep-sea hot springs…A nurturing sea gave rise to earth’s…first plant, first animal. We are, essentially, specialized fish.”
(I smiled to see this, because I had JUST been explaining to someone that, just as you can’t have a sensible evolutionary grouping called “dinosaurs” that excludes birds, a sensible evolutionary grouping called “fish” has to include land vertebrates!)
-That there is a green sulfur bacterium that can photosynthesize by the light of hydrothermal vents!
-That the early animals recorded in Ediacaran fossils include one with three-part symmetry not seen in any lineage today.
- That we have known that eels - a fish humans have eaten for centuries- breed in the Sargasso Sea for a long time, but still no one had yet (as of 2008, anyway) observed the spawning.
- “The Permian catastrophe probably began with a volcanic eruption more immense than any humanity has witnessed…eruptions in Siberia may have lasted for one million years…The eruptions burned through…the world’s largest coal basin…During the Permian extinction, oxygen levels dropped to 12%…The combination - too little oxygen, too much carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide and increasingly acidity - was disastrous.”
-But also: "Earth's previous mass extinctions were catastrophic...but the timing may have been leisurely. The Great Dying of the Permian...when 90% of marine life disappeared, took place over 160,000 years...we humans...are accelerating the pace of extinction. Already a hundred times higher than before our arrival, it will become, if current trends continue, a thousand times greater in the next decades."
The latter is a rather depressing quote, given that over the last 20 years our national and global leadership has largely failed to take action on climate change to the degree that we already knew was necessary; that reefs continue to bleach in warming, acidifying waters; and that the seas have continued to fill with plastic.
But there are bright spots. In 2008, this book records, less than 1% of the ocean was designated as a protected area. As of 2026 it was up to 9.8% (https://mpatlas.org/)- still far short of the 20-30% conservationists call for, but progress nonetheless. The highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale as of 2025 is up to 380 total individuals, including 70 breeding females (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/specie... not enough to get complacent, since they still face many threats and high mortality rates but, rather than being gone by now, they are hanging in there! The Chesapeake Bay was described as a nearly-dead estuary; as of 2020, the anoxic area (low oxygen ‘dead zone’) in the bay was the smallest it had been in 35 years (https://www.anchorqea.com/insights/ar... ), indicating that despite warmer temperatures, efforts to rein in nutrient runoff and restore oyster beds are paying off (see https://www.allianceforthebay.org and https://www.chesapeakebay.net/ ). So the conclusion of this book still holds:
“Our chapter in earth’s history has yet to close…Unlike the animals that came before us, we can choose the legacy we leave…We can choose a legacy of stewardship…whose principles, derived from the nature of the sea itself, are these:
- that the sea is the source and sustainer of all life, including ours;
- that we are but one species among many;
- that earth history recorded in ancient seafloor illuminates our present and intimates a future;
- that earth’s ocean waters are joined in a single, flowing sea;
- that wherever we live, however we live, we touch the sea and therefore share responsibility for its health and well-being.”
October 20, 2024
Quite frankly alarming how close we are to loosing so many species from this version of earth. We must try harder to love the earth as we’ve found it.
June 4, 2019
An excellent account of not only the ocean, but the history of our entire planet. The pictures are awesome, and the text is informative yet easy to understand. I highly recommend it.
June 28, 2022
Wonderful and informative!
June 20, 2018
This was a phenomenal read!
Whenever I thought I already knew a good deal about the ocean, Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World would provide a fact or statistic that would truly blow my mind away. To say that this book was a page-turner would be an understatement. The photographs were stunning, the writing was well crafted, and the message that we are all connected to the ocean, and are all obligated to protect it, could not have been delivered better.
Although this volume was published ten years ago, one could argue that its relevance is even greater now than it has ever been, for the book's discussions on threats faced by coral reefs, polar ice caps, coastlines, etc., remain significant today. Deborah Cramer exemplifies how important it is to address issues the ocean confronts on a daily basis, which is why I highly recommend this book.
If any work should be considered a "must-read" for all ocean lovers, this one would certainly be a good bet :-)
Whenever I thought I already knew a good deal about the ocean, Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World would provide a fact or statistic that would truly blow my mind away. To say that this book was a page-turner would be an understatement. The photographs were stunning, the writing was well crafted, and the message that we are all connected to the ocean, and are all obligated to protect it, could not have been delivered better.
Although this volume was published ten years ago, one could argue that its relevance is even greater now than it has ever been, for the book's discussions on threats faced by coral reefs, polar ice caps, coastlines, etc., remain significant today. Deborah Cramer exemplifies how important it is to address issues the ocean confronts on a daily basis, which is why I highly recommend this book.
If any work should be considered a "must-read" for all ocean lovers, this one would certainly be a good bet :-)
December 10, 2012
i when to read it
August 9, 2016
A great coffee-table book with lots of beautiful and inspiring pictures and quotes.
June 23, 2018
This book visually stunning! However, it is so dense with information it felt overwhelming and impenetrable. If I could have THESE pictures with Sylvia Earle's experiences, storytelling, and marine conservation mindfulness, that would be perfect. This book feels too much like history and geology to connect with - it doesn't have a compelling story or soul to keep me engaged throughout the book. This book needs a TED-esque makeover: giving all the data and science a story would really help.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews