The Secret Oceans

Betty Ballantine, renowned for her contributions to publishing for more than four decades, takes readers on a visual odyssey through the vast and deep oceans of the world, with the help of 12 leading artists and a story that will entertain as well as gently inform. Meet the crew of the Turtle, an exploratory submarine whose mission is to establish communication with whales. Almost immediately, they encounter the cetasapiens, a remarkable thinking, mammalian species who have an equally important objective: to establish communication with humans, and to teach them about the fragility of the ocean ecosystem they are thoughtlessly destroying. The cetasapiens have until this time kept their existence secret from humankind, who have only explored one and a half percent of the undersea world. But secrecy is no longer a protection against human destructiveness --and the cetasapiens intend to do something about it. The dramatic art creates the tale, with gorgeous full-color paintings of burgeoning kelp forests, vibrant coral reefs, and mysterious arctic waters The cetasapiens serve as the submarine crew's guides. Just as Dinotopia illuminated a fantastic world where humans and dinosaurs co-exist, "The Secret Oceans" brings alive a world that exists only beneath the ocean surface -- and in the imagination.