As we enter the new millennium, discover in this definitive resource for the ocean, the wonders of the world offshore through more than 200 maps, diagrams, photographs, and satellite images. With deep-sea pioneer and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, Sylvia Earle, discover a world as challenging and untapped as space, as vital to our existence as the air we breathe. Accompanying exquisite, and authoritative maps, her compelling narrative reveals the beauty of the ocean structure and the adventure of discovery of its flora, fauna, and phenomena, from giant squid and giant kelp to exquisite microbial life. Detailed cartography reveals the major oceans, with their bays, straits, and estuaries, and seas from polar to tropical. Maps of the floor reveal plate divisions and motion. Point maps take you into earth's deepest abyss-the Mariana Trench; along the planet's longest mountain chain-the Mid-Ocean Ridge; on the migration route of humpback whales; and to marine sanctuaries worldwide. Discover dynamic equipment, still on the drawing board, that will help scientists discover new places and lifeforms in the 21st century.