In this magnificent volume, the much-anticipated follow-up to his international triumph The Sea, Philip Plisson widens his lens to provide a more global focus on the oceans and the humans who depend on it for survival.

Here are nearly two hundred astonishing images of oceans in more than fifty countries, seen close to the surface or from the air. Marine expert Christian Buchet’s accompanying text incisively examines the many contemporary environmental issues affecting oceans around the world.

Featuring ten spectacular gatefolds, 'Ocean' will excite the reader with breathtaking images of the beauty, fury and unremitting splendour of the sea.

Philip Plisson is a highly acclaimed French marine photographer. In 1991 he was appointed to the post of Peintre de la Marine, official artist to the French Navy. His works include over 400,000 photographs and forty books, including the bestselling The Sea, also published by Thames & Hudson.

Christian Buchet is manager of the Marine Research Centre of the Catholic University of Paris and a trustee of the French Institute for the Sea.