"Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans dives into the blue to dispel myths and to explore the vast ocean and its mysterious and astounding inhabitants. Often the facts rival fiction as he discusses tales of battle between sperm whales and giant squid, between sharks and octopus, octopus and man. He takes on Melville and Verne's seemingly farfetched stories and hypothesises on what could have really plausibly happened. Distributed within the text are over 140 illustrations: line drawings, artist renditions and photographs. The reader can see photographed scars from a sperm whale-squid battle, the comparison of a manatee to a mermaid; compelling evidence as to what sailors of centuries ago really saw, and various comparison figures of oceanic giants to other species and to humans so that the reader can truly comprehend their Goliath proportions."--BOOK JACKET.