The Ocean's Menagerie : How Earth's Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life

Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publish date: 23 April 2026
Pages: 288
Binding: Paperback
Language: English

Subjects: Nature, Animals, Marine Life, Science, Earth Sciences, Oceanography, Life Sciences, Zoology, Invertebrates, Ethology (Animal Behavior), Biological Diversity, Natural History

** A NATURE, WALL STREET JOURNAL AND THE TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR **

A mind-expanding journey into our planet's least explored and most critical frontier: the ocean - and the astonishing, ancient creatures who call it home.

'An enchanting book' SUNDAY TIMES

'Magic' TOM MUSTILL, author of How to Speak Whale

For hundreds of millions of years, the seas' spineless creatures were the only animals on Earth. Hidden in the ocean's vast depths, they have adapted to thrive in an evolving world. Only now are we beginning to discover their superpowers.

The Ocean's Menagerie takes us down into this incredible underwater realm. From Hawaii to Indonesia to the Salish Sea, we meet coral kingdoms tougher than steel, jellyfish that glow like lanterns, and sponges harbouring potent cancer-fighting secrets.

As our planet changes fast, these otherworldly marvels hold promises for our own survival - and remind us why we must protect the ocean, our most valuable and vulnerable ecosystem, while we still can.

'Vividly revelatory' WILLIAM GIBSON

'Each page is full of wonder and surprise' STEVE BRUSATTE

'Harvell writes with tangible delight' SPECTATOR

'Thank goodness for marine biologists like Drew Harvell ... Fascinating' THE TIMES