Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves:

Review Written by Helena Milazzo

Founder and CEO of LegaSea Ecology LLC Learn More About Helena

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Book Reviews

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April 13, 2022

Deep is a voyage from the ocean’s surface to its darkest trenches, the most mysterious places on Earth. Fascinated by the sport of freediving—in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath—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 our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential—including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans 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.

Book Title: Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves

Book Author: James Nestor

Genre: Nonfiction

Pub Date: May 5, 2015

Page Count: 288 pages

ISBN: 054448407X

Deep is an incredibly interesting read that follows the author’s journey in freediving and the exploration of the underwater world.

The book starts at the surface with James Nestor at the World Freediving Championship in Kalamata Greece, and ends at -35,850ft below, 90 miles south of the North Pacific Island, Guam, rocking on a luxurious research vessel, the R/V Falkor, over one of the deepest locations on earth.

Each chapter in between takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the oceans zones and explores the wonders (and horrors) of each; from the stomach-turning competitive free dives to the century long poetic dives of the Ama in Japan, to journeys in homemade submersibles and diving with Sperm Whales, Nestor has a unique way of appealing to readers of varying interests and giving them both a scientific and anecdotal glimpse into one of the most mysterious places on earth.

If you are in an individual who has been curious about freediving, learning more about the human-ocean connection, or exploring a world below the surface I could not recommend this book to you enough.