Wild Ocean (ISBN 0792274717)

Amazon.com Review:
National parks, it has been said, are "the best idea America ever had." With the advent of national marine sanctuaries, the United States has taken this good idea underwater. Prominent marine biologist Sylvia Earle and underwater photographer Wolcott Henry take readers on a breathtaking grand tour of America's undersea parks in Wild Ocean. With big, gorgeous color photographs on nearly every page and enlightening text to enhance the reader's sense of each location, the book is a must-see for ocean enthusiasts. From the tropical splendor of coral reefs to the magnificence of northern rocky coasts, marine sanctuaries are national treasures, snatched from the jaws of pollution and development just in time to ensure that people will always have an opportunity to appreciate the ocean's beauty. Earle and Wolcott take you under the waves with whales, sea turtles, sharks, and other marine creatures to show how worthy these fragile environments are of protection and even expansion. The political message here is clear: these places are worth the taxpayers' money--see for yourself. Wild Ocean is an impassioned plea for preservation of America's seas. --Therese Littleton

Beautifully illustrated - superb into to marine parks:
THE definitive introduction to America's 'Parks Under the Sea'. Beautifully illustrated with photographs from a virtual who's who of underwater/nature photography -- Wolcott Henry, David Doubilet, Frans Lanting, Gary Ellis, Stephen Frink, Norbert Wu ... From the slow-moving Manatee in the caribbean waters off Florida to playful sea lions in the Channel Islands off the California coast, this book takes you on a whirlwind journey through what may be America's last and greatest wild places. Sylvia Earle's unique perspective as America's foremost underwater explorer makes her the ideal tour guide for this sweeping journey. There's something here for everyone -- armchair travelers, experienced divers, nature lovers, adventurous spirits. The one book you really ought to own if you have an interest in exploring the vast wealth and staggering diversity of our national underwater heritage. More mysterious, more alluring, even more diverse than our National Park System, the National Marine Sanctuary System is the adventureland of tomorrow. I thoroughly enjoyed every page and often find myself reaching to the bookshelf to "go back" to places that one day I hope I'll have a chance to visit. This book gets my highest recommendation.