Adventure Ocean Exploration

In this masterful account in the spirit of Bill Bryson and Ian Frazier, a longtime deep-sea diver masterfully weaves together the science and history of Earth's last remaining frontier: the sea. In an age of unprecedented exploration and innovation, our oceans remain largely unknown, and...

Humankind has explored every continent on earth, climbed its tallest mountains, and gone into space. But the largest areas of our planet remain a mystery: the deep oceans. At over 36,000 feet deep, these areas closest to earth’s core have remained nearly impossible to reach - until now. Technological innovations, engineering breakthroughs and the derring-do of a unique team of engineers and scientists, led by explorer Victor Vescovo, brought together an audacious global quest to dive to the deepest points of all five oceans for the first time in history.

Setting out from New Bedford in 1878, the crew of the Esther is confident the sea will be theirs: in addition to cruising the Pacific for whale, they intend to hunt the teeming northern grounds before the ice closes. But as they sail to their final destination in the Chukchi Sea, where their captain Arnold Lovejoy has an urgent directive of his own to attend to, their encounters with the natural world become more brutal, harrowing, ghostly, and strange.