Learning about the ocean

[Zalbo]

Hi guys!
I have recently discovered how amazing diving is and the underwater world I had never seen before! I'm now eager to learn more about the ocean and all of the animals within it. So, does anyone recommend any good books I can download to help me understand the ocean better?
Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[ColoDale]

ID books by Humann and Deloach for the fish, creatures and coral. These are a standard. These are generally weighted to Caribbean and Pacific with some Central America. Don't know where you will be diving and can't help with UK ID books. I have hard copy so you'll have to check into ebooks for them.

 

[knotical]

By download, I assume you mean free.
There’s a lot available, and search engines are your friend.
Following is just a sample, ranging from pretty basic to …

oceans

http://www.lagerquist.com/daycamp/NCS_Drive/Alpha Listing/Oceanography - 35924.pdf

http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/PDF_files/book.pdf

marine life

http://www.seamester.com/wp-content/themes/seamester/pdf/academic-pdf/OCB-student-handbook-v3.1.pdf

Textbook

 

[Scuba Diving Dreamer]

Personally I cannot get enough of HD documentary series like BBC's Planet Earth. The footage is insane and there is a bunch of cool ocean focused episodes. There is another series called life and also the older Blue planet: Oceans of life is fantastic. I think I have rewatched each series about 5x and learned a ton about not only the ocean but some incredible stuff about other countries as well. well worth the 30 bucks

 

[tursiops]

ID books by Humann and Deloach for the fish, creatures and coral. These are a standard. These are generally weighted to Caribbean and Pacific with some Central America. Don't know where you will be diving and can't help with UK ID books. I have hard copy so you'll have to check into ebooks for them.

The eBook versions are available from Blio, but cost the same as the hard copies.

A better book for the OP might be their Fish Behavior book; fascinating.
Reef Fish Behavior: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas: Ned DeLoach, Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach: 9781878348289: Amazon.com: Books
i believe an updated version is about to be issued.

 

[CuzzA]

First post here as I recently signed up on SB and I'll be certified in a few weeks. I'm an avid reefer so this thread obviously sparked my interest. I can say there are a number of excellent books and especially online forums in the marine aquarium hobby that are loaded with a ton of information. From coral, invert, fish identification and care requirements to seawater chemistry and biology. ReefCentral.com and Reefkeeping.com would be a good place to start and I would think it would be a great learning experience even if you don't intend on owning a tank you can still learn why certain animals live where they do or understand the reason behind their behavior and put that knowledge together while you're diving. There's a lot of divers on there too and a dive forum.

For what it's worth I have a 90 gallon reef and a 310 gallon I'm currently building. The reefing hobby is a little unique to diving in that much of everything that is in the ocean turns up in our tanks and gives us the opportunity to learn about the creatures rather than just the brief observation while diving. In fact, while I've always intended on getting certified it wasn't until taking a few excursions recently with a local live rock aquaculture business that I finally had enough of snorkeling or dropping my GoPro on a rod and reel and finally pulled the trigger. Long over due for this Florida guy who's a stones throw from the Gulf and owns a boat.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. My handle is the same.

 

[scottwilson1]

you tube - found tons and tons of videos on reefs and sea life - just enter the area your cuiose about - scuba - coral - Bahamas or great barrier reef scuba and you'll get tons of stuff to watch.