Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck, Black Inc., $59.99.
This remarkable book features stunning photography and new insights into the captivating world of marine science, and is from the creators of the Academy Award–winning documentary My Octopus Teacher.
The film is an uplifting story of a friendship between a human and an octopus. It’s “observational storytelling” at its best as a diver swims with an eight-limbed mollusc that lives in a kelp forest off the Western Cape of South Africa. A creature of great, shimmery beauty and mystery, it’s regarded by many with bemusement more than affection. The appealing, tremendously crowd-pleasing documentary goes out of its way to humanise these amorphous aliens of the sea: through standard anthropomorphic techniques and the compassionate presence of its producer-narrator, South African filmmaker and conservationist Craig Foster. His unexpected kinship with a single octopus, encountered while diving in the richly populated underwater forest gives the simply framed documentary its storyline push and stirring lift.
Now, with Underwater Wild, the divers behind the film reveal a new vision of the sea – one that’s full of wonder and life-changing teachings.
With an introduction by Jane Goodall, Underwater Wild is an immersive journey into the underwater world that holds transformative lessons for us all. Swim alongside authors Craig Foster (one of the world’s leading natural history filmmakers) and Ross Frylinck (writer and photographer working in ocean conservation) as they capture the revelatory marine science behind these dazzling photos.
Learn how to track sea hares, cuttlefish and limpets and witness strange new behaviours never before documented in marine biology. Underwater Wild is ideal for photography fans, snorkelling enthusiasts and those obsessed about marine wildlife.
