"An engaging exploration of the depths of the world's oceans and the human connection to the rapidly changing world below. This is popular science writing at its best." -- "Christian Science Monitor" "The reader could not wish for a better guide ... "Deep" is a fascinating, informative, exhilarating book." -- "Wall Street Journal" "The deeper Nestor] ventures into the ocean, the more dramatic and unusual the organisms therein and the people who observe them ... It's a journey well worth taking." -- David Epstein, "New York Times Book Review" Fascinated by the sport of freediving--in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath--journalist James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in humans' remarkable, and often hidden, potential--including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound physiological changes we undergo when underwater. Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
