Océanos: El mundo secreto de las profundidades marinas

by D.K. Publishing

Dive into this uniquely elegant exploration of the sea.

An exploration of marine life and the ocean environment, this audiobook makes marine biology and oceanography accessible and enjoyable. Oceanology offers up riches from every corner of the ocean, from coral reefs and mangrove swamps to icy fjords and deep-ocean trenches, and from great whales to the microscopic beauty of plankton. Along the way, it explains how the ocean itself works, including tides, currents, hurricanes, tsunamis, and the global processes of oceanography and climate. An informative and utterly beautiful introduction to the ocean, this audiobook brings the wealth of the sea to your ears.

Maya Plass

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Reference, Biology, Environment

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning book that's packed with information. It's absolutely beautiful and the range of topics is phenomenal, from information about eroding coastlines to detailed profiles of a huge variety of sea creatures. This is one that I may get for our homeschool library, though it would be equally suitable for a coffee table book because it's just so gorgeous and interesting.

I read an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book via Net Galley. As another reviewer mentioned, the ARC was terrible quality and it was hard to view the photos. I'm going to assume that's because of Net Galley's recent shenanigans limiting file size (which I suspect is a sneaky way to try to force their new app on reviewers, which isn't an option for my older iPad). I won't hold it against the book, but it made it hard to properly view the photos or even read part of the book. I hope this is resolved by NG soon.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again... Small minus here, I won't penalize it much in the ratings, because I think it's a files issues and not a overall quality issues of the true physical or even true digital book. The illustrations look very bad, full of pixels and blurry. But recently I've been contact with some publisher, after bad reviews, saying that NG limited the file size, so they have to downgrade the quality of there digital files in order to fit in. If so, well NG should try to improve that because it provides a «sample» that isn't truly accurate and so it's hard to give a fair review on a downgraded product... I would be curious to see the real edition of this book, because it look like it could be spectacular!

If not, a very nice encyclopedia, true to the DK standard quality. Lot of info, visually well presented, well organized as well, illustrations looks promising and just a massive book. Good job!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oceanology: The Secrets of the Sea Revealed, from D.K. Publishing, is a lovely book containing troves of short spurts of information on the ocean and its actors in all their forms. Turtles, crabs, deep-sea creatures, whales, sharks and shore based creatures - you name it, and there is probably some blurb about it in this book. Contained also are interesting facts on ocean currents, tsunamis and waves, tidal movements, plastic waste, human interaction, and the oceans impact on art and culture. This book really is an information dump of the highest quality, and contained with each page are beautiful photos, graphs and illustrations depicting the information written down accurately and engagingly. A fun read if you are looking for a coffee table book to flip through, but also contains good information for those looking to start learning about the ocean.

[Jim]

This isn't meant to be an audiobook, but a large format hardback since it's filled with gorgeous pictures & it would certainly be worth reading that way. The narration I listened to was good, but obviously just the captions from those pictures & the text in between. Not enough. Abandoned.

[James P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

DK Books can be a pain: too crowded with information. Often, the pages of DK's books look like a jumble--like the editors want to hit the readers with everything but the kitchen sink. Most of the time, that is a genuine turn-off.

But, for Oceanology--which isn't overly crowded on every page--I felt (mostly) comfortable reading. However, as I worked my way through this books fantastic photographs and brief descriptions of various creatures of the deep, many unfamiliar and otherworldly, I noticed my reading comprehension wasn't so great.

Even with that, I kept on reading, determined to try to make it to the end.

However, once the sparsely formatted section ended, there was an Appendix devoted to specific oceangoing species. And, for me, that was nothing but a hassle to try to read.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book feels like it was designed to be an oversized coffee table book with beautiful glossy photographs dominating each page. As an audiobook, it doesn’t quite work, covering at lightning speed a dizzying array of sea creatures and natural formations. It’s still interesting, but,..dizzying as the narrator flies through micro chapter after micro chapter.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Pao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers a little bit of everything and is very informative. The pictures are high-quality and it also includes diagrams and such to aid explanations. Perfect for beginners or the more casual reader.

[Erin Burnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images in this book are beautiful. It features up close and detailed photos of the animals it is discussing. The book features several segways into the sea's depiction in art throughout the ages. It features full color illustrations and has summaries detailing each painting and artist. The book also has several informative sections on the ocean and its processes, such as: tides, environments, zones of the ocean, salt vs. fresh water on Earth, geologic features, etc. Besides the physical elements of the ocean, this book also details a species family tree, showing all the organisms that live in or near the ocean. This tree lists the organisms from simplest, like the archaea bacteria that live at Black smokers on the ocean floor, to most complex, such as blue whales. I thoroughly enjoyed pouring over this book and took several hours to read over all the bits of information it provided.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from DK Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

You can't help but be fascinated by the facts and pictures in this book. This book is a dream resource for a project. DK does it again with providing as much information and photos to go along with the info to make any child say "WOAH" every time they open the book. We do have some teachers that do an ocean project and this would be a Godsend to the teachers in encouraging their students to explore even more even when their project is done. I know this will be a heavily circulated book when school evolves further into the year even with Virtual Learning this will be a great source too.

We will consider adding this title to our JNon-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love DK/Smithsonian non-fiction books. They are geared for children but are perfect for anyone exploring a subject they are interested in learning. The illustrations in this book are great and one page on each of the subjects generates interest from all age groups. A little knowledge wets the appetite and you can learn even more from the illustrations. Gifts for grand kids or grandparents are spot on with this book. The chapters cover every aspect of the sea from small plankton to large whales. It also talks about taking care of this natural resource. Jeopardy James talked about studying children's books to shore up his memory and this book would be perfect. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially I took notes on the entire book, as I move this fall to a new country start my degree in Marine Zoology. With that being said, the book was entertaining, full of interesting information whether or not you are new to marine sciences or are extremely interested in them (as I am). It had nice pictures, most descriptions were straight forward. I think it does its job as both a coffee table book, but also a book anyone (especially children) could enjoy reading and actually try to learn from.

[Enrique Borrella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ok it reminded me of the documentaries of one planet that the bbc did. The book is basically a bunch of short chapters in which they talk about different topics. Sadly I felt like most of the chapters were too short to enjoy and to me, it was too academical; giving a lot of scientífic names and facts that are not that interesting for someone that is not in the oceanography field. I recommend it to biologist more than to someone just interested in the field like me.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautiful. The pictures are in full vivid color and absolutely amazing. My 14 year old daughter loved this book also and hopes to be able to reference it when she does any ocean related work for school. There doesn't seem to be a topic this book doesn't cover and thr glossery in the back makes finding topics super easy.

[m Addams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coffee table book

Lots of pictures, lots of information not that I've verified the information, but there are references, not that I verified them. Anyway a nice looking book which looks impressive on Kindle anyway.

[Jbussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! If I was a kid, I'd just love this. The Pictures! The Pictures!

[Braeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photographs seamlessly incorporated with textual elements, the entire book is so sexy and clean and damn is it inspirational.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all DK books I have read there are amazing details and the photos are unbelievable!! An enjoyable book on every level.

[Robert Ulrich Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not suitable for Kindle format

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an encyclopedia of the sea that uses dynamic panoramic photographs of the underwater world, oceanography, and marine life, as well as the latest 3D illustrations and paintings.

There is a considerable amount of content in this book, and it is worth reading and rereading over and over again.

Located in the Pacific state of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii is home to the Institute of Marine Biology and is the perfect place to study oceanography, marine life, the marine environment, microbiology, zoology, and more.

I never studied oceanography at university, but I became interested in oceanography while actually swimming in the ocean, and I am learning it on my own while reading the DK encyclopedia.

I have the opportunity to play in the sea all year round, and I am happy to be able to meet microscopic plankton, jellyfish, large whales, etc. while snorkeling.

The ocean is so mysterious and the truth is largely unknown, but it is clear that it has a much longer history than on land, and there is much we can learn from the network of life in the ocean.

[Ciaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, probably better as a physical book though.

I love learning about the sea and some of the weird and wild things that live in it. This book is right up my alley with straightforward blurbs about each topic it covers, complete with vivid photos and illustrations. Reading it via ebook was more than a bit frustrating though (so much zooming in and out), so you're probably better going for a physical copy if you can find one. Worth the read, just a bit tedious because of the formatting issues.

[Matt Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty amazing. Beatiful pictures, and actually really good information. I learned a lot more than I expected to. (Weird issue I spotted - a couple times metric to english measurememt conversions were wrong.)

[Selena F.]

La nueva edición es preciosa, las imágenes son coloridas y atractivas. Sin embargo, a mí el contenido me ha resultado escaso y, dentro de las secciones, no me ha gustado mucho su distribución ni como se expone. Me parecen datos sueltos y sin conexión.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio and had a print version from the library as well. It's a beautiful book and full of great information about ocean life. It's *very* detailed, so isn't ideal for an audiobook, but I learned a lot and enjoyed the narrator.