SCUBAHUB
Shipwreck By Gibsons of Scilly , Carl Douglas , Bjorn Hagberg
PRICE : £ 35 PUBLISHED BY : Max Strom ISBN : 9789171265586
From the author and publisher of the remarkable Ghost Ships of the Baltic Sea comes another fine art treatment of shipwrecks . Technical diver and historian Carl Douglas turns his attention to a singular archive of high quality photographs , amassed by five generations of the Gibson family .
As the authors note , a great deal of the Western Hemisphere ’ s maritime traffic
SCUBA looks at three new books any diver would welcome for Christmas
passed along the shipping lanes off South West England . In the days before radio , radar or GPS , shipwrecks were inevitable .
The Gibson family ( beginning with John and his gifted photographer son , Alexander ) created a business photographing the scenes of such events , when they took place sufficiently close to land . At the time , the images generated income when shipping companies bought prints to use in support of their claims ; they were also sold as expensive postcards and to newspapers .
Over generations , the family amassed a high quality archive , which was bought at auction by The National Maritime Museum in 2013 . A small proportion of the archive has been curated for this astonishing book , its large format weighing in at nearly 1.7kg for 184 pages . It succeeds in doing justice to the dramatic nature of the subject material . As the explorer Rex Cowan once said of the collection : “ This is the greatest archive of the drama and mechanics of shipwreck we will ever see .”
Distilled into this capacious format , the images are starkly evocative and detailed moments of history . Witness the stricken Alexander Yeats listing to starboard having run aground off North Cornwall in 1896 ; or the sight of the passenger steamer Lady of the Isles partially submerged in Mount ’ s Bay in 1904 . Perhaps most memorable is the wreck of HMS Montagu ( 1906 ), run aground off Lundy . The Gibson ’ s recorded the painstaking salvage operation while the ship lay precariously on the huge pieces of rock that had pierced its hull .
This is an incredible book that documents a period of history with haunting images ; you really do get lost in its pages . I ’ d recommend it to any committed wreck diver or maritime historian . Simon Rogerson
The Sea Lions of Los Islotes By Luke Inman
PRICE : £ 25 PUBLISHED BY : DivedUp . com ISBN : 978-1-909455-49-8
The sea lion colony of Los Islotes is the southernmost breeding colony in the Gulf of California , 500-strong and forming a Biosphere Reserve with its neighbour , Espiritu Santo Island . Access is strictly controlled , but divers are permitted and the islands are regarded as a world class site , the pride of Mexico ’ s Baja Peninsula .
This beautiful book is a love letter to Los Islotes , written and photographed by British expat Luke Inman , a dive professional responsible for organising many high profile filming expeditions . He has a great deal of experience in the region , and is a compelling advocate for Los Islotes , proclaiming it his favourite dive site in the world .
The ensuing 135 pages are devoted to explaining his devotion , as he sets out the natural history of sea lions and their presence in Mexico ’ s ecosystem . There are many pinniped pictures , and perhaps at times the overall effect errs on the repetitive . However , there ’ s no doubting the author ’ s expertise and devotion to these animals , and
their beautiful home in the shimmering waters of Baja .
I ’ d have liked to have seen a larger section devoted to the other marine creatures of the islands , although Luke gives us a tantalising eight page glimpse . Perhaps he is to be praised for sticking to the subject at hand – the sections on sea lion behaviour and play are very beautiful . This book would make an excellent gift for anyone interested in marine mammals , or diving in Mexico . SR
18
Why Sharks Matter By David Schiffman
PRICE : £ 18.50
PUBLISHED BY : Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN : 978-1-4214-4364-5
The author is a research scientist at the Marine Stewardship Council and a marine conservation biologist at Arizona State University . He ’ s likely to know what he ’ s talking about and , as such , this book succeeds in presenting a global picture of present day shark conservation . The tone is academic-lite , albeit with passages of warm humour . This is a hardback book , carefully indexed and running to 312 pages . The front cover is a beautiful photo of Caribbean reef sharks , but the author ’ s own photography and other illustrations play a secondary role to the text .
David Schiffman navigates a vast sea of data to nail down the background and current status of shark conservation , and I have no doubt that even the most well informed shark enthusiasts will find a lot to chew on here . The central point is that even
humans rely on healthy shark populations to support ocean ecosystems , and that our own fate may be entwined in theirs .
The best bits are the myth busting sections , in which Shiffman delights in mocking common misconceptions . But most importantly , he sets out ideas on how we can save sharks , although many species are critically endangered . The solution ? Global shark sanctuaries ; shark fin trade bans ; tighter regulations on fisheries . Ultimately , Shiffman is an advocate of solid science , and here he succeeds in distilling decades of research , discoveries and policymaking . SR