In his new book听听($28, Little, Brown and Company), journalist听Bill Streever says that he has an agenda, right off the bat. He wants to tempt people to go diving, to think differently about what might be happening under the water鈥檚 surface. 鈥淚 wanted readers to embrace the part of our world that is shrouded by depth,鈥 he writes.听
The book is broadly about the science and history of underwater exploration, from 17th-century submarines to today鈥檚 freedivers. But Streever, who is also听an obsessive diver and听lives on a boat, drills down to the human scale, too. He starts with a gripping story of the 1960s exploration of the Marianas Trench听and the fear and anxiety听divers and scientists felt when they tried to get to the deepest point on the planet. He explains the ways we鈥檝e figured out how to manage听water and air over time鈥攖he hows of deep-sea diving鈥攂ut it鈥檚 also about the whys听and what drives people to push themselves farther听under water.听
Streever,听and his history as a diver, is very much a part of the story, and he鈥檚 fascinated by the quirks and evolution听of the sport: how freedivers train听and what Aristotle thought about early diving bells. But he鈥檚 also thinking about the future听and how both science and love for a place can contribute to protecting the struggling ocean. He ends the book with renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle听and her plea for divers, or anyone who cares about the water, to do something about it.听
Streever鈥檚 is one of two new books that look听at how recreation听can translate to a deeper relationship with the sea. 听($27, Penguin Random House), a memoir about fishing on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard from competitive surfcaster, fishing guide, and fish taxidermist Janet Messineo, also describes an obsession听with unknown vastness, whether stalking striped bass or mapping the ocean floor, is the most interesting part of both books.
Messineo takes a slightly different tack to show how she developed her relationship with the ocean. While finding purpose through time spent outside isn鈥檛 a new premise for a book, her in-depth听look into the macho world of surfcasting, and how she became a part of it in the seventies, is novel. She was one of the first women fishing for stripers and other big fish听on the Atlantic coast, but her path there was winding and unexpected, starting with a tough, mill-town childhood.听A听trip to California chasing LSD dealers with a bad-news ex-husband eventually brought her to the Vineyard. She shares the lifetime of early mornings it took to learn the subtleties of surfcasting,听the flashes of luck involved in听landing a monster fish, and how she nearly drowned听in leaky waders and was听dragged offshore by strong catches.
Casting into the Light occasionally gets bogged down in the details, but it鈥檚 a glimpse into the听obsessive world of surfcasting,听chasing huge striped bass, and the low-key past of a now-fancy island. The best parts are when Messineo听gets into the tight, wild fishing community living on the margins of a resort town. The taxidermy tidbits don鈥檛 hurt either, like asking her neighbor to fell a pigeon with a slingshot for her to practice on, and mounting听fish for Spike Lee.
The two books are thoughtful in different ways. Streever pulls together stories that show听his evolving appreciation for the sea, to demonstrate听how important and misunderstood the ocean is. Messineo twists the kaleidoscope of her own life on the shore to give a long-range view of her love for the sport and the fish and the sea. 鈥淐ome April, the first time I get my fishing rod out of it鈥檚 winter storage and stand in surf up to my thing to cast, I exhale. I feel as though I鈥檝e been holding my breath for the last five months,鈥 she writes. They鈥檙e both about trying to understand the ocean, but they both acknowledge the catch: that we never really can.听
Two More New Ocean-Oriented Books听
鈥淲ild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean,鈥听by Joy McCann
Australian environmental-historian McCann gives a of the Antarctic Ocean, the world鈥檚 least-known body of water. It鈥檚 full of polar-explorer stories and current environmental risks, and it鈥檚 nice to feel like there are parts of the world that still hold mystery.
鈥淓at Like a Fish: My 国产吃瓜黑料s as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer,鈥澨齜y Bren Smith
The ocean holds a ton of potential for sustainable agriculture, and Smith, who runs what he calls one of the first sustainable , makes a for it. He tells the story of how aquaculture pulled him away from the adrenaline of commercial fishing听and the role he thinks it can play in the future.