In this book the author sets out to rediscover the sea and its islands, birds, and beasts. Starting at his home on the shores of Britain's Southampton Water and moving in ever widening circles, like the migration patterns of whales, he explores London, the Isle of Wight, the Azores, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, and New Zealand. As he weaves together literary and natural history, we encounter memorable people as well as the dolphins, whales, and other creatures above and below the water (even one species formerly believed to be extinct). With the author's own line drawings and colorful prose, the book bursts with an endlless series of delights and revelations from the ever-changing sea. -- From book jacket.