Book Review: Reef Coral Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas by Paul Humann

The last time I was at my local library I picked up 2 books that I felt I should take a look at before going on my upcoming trip to the Bahamas at the end of this month. I took out Reef Coral Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas by Paul Humann, at the same time I took out Reef Fish Identification by the same author.

I absolutely loved Reef Fish, and it taught me a lot about what to expect in the Caribbean seas, and what to avoid.

Reef Coral Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas I knew would have a similar format, only this book would be dealing with all the different types of coral I may come to see while diving and snorkeling.

The book itself packs in 288 glossy slick pages of information, and 530 full colored photos of different types of corals, and not only that it also lists different sea plants as well. The cover of the book is done up in high gloss with a photograph of a large coral stretching out into what looks like an upside down tree trunk! Don't be fooled though, that is a living piece of coral!!!

What I loved about Reef Coral Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas was the fact that it did not miss a beat. It told the names of every coral, gave a photo of the coral, and where to find them in the sea. Besides just names and photo identifications though the book gave details on each coral in the book, and even described which ones to be wary of! Yup, some corals you may come across could be poisonous and leave a nasty sting, or burn behind if you were to brush up against them.

The book is not just full of facts, tips on where to locate such coral, but it also gives you examples of some of the things that are killing out certain reefs. From certain species of star fish, fish, and even humans.

Reef Coral Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas by Paul Humann basically gives you a huge compilation of different types of corals you could come across, some corals are located and easy to find in certain parts of the sea though. Some may be only found off the coast of Florida, where others are semi exclusive to certain areas in the Bahama's. Regardless though the book was beautiful to look through either way.

Some photos are so gorgeous that the reefs appear to be underwater forest's, only alien like; not even of this world. It's truly spectacular, and the information within its pages are very important to those looking to go out and dive for the first time. There are many different species of coral, so before diving in I think you should pick up this book just to inform yourself about what types of corals you will encounter, and which ones you should try to avoid.

The photos of the giant brain corals in particular are truly fascinating and almost unbelievable. Some brain corals appear to be larger than cars and can be seen in this book in numerous photos.

I highly recommend this one, like Reef Fish Identification, Coral Identification is yet another holy grail to divers and snorkelers brought to you by Paul Humann.


Where To Buy:
 
You can pick a copy up for free at any local library, or you can order the book online on numerous sites. Amazon as of now is selling this particular book for $23.07, if anything though it is worth checking out at your local library.

I recommend buying it if you plan on doing a lot of diving, and would like a quick reference to what corals you may have seen.

CORAL IS ALIVE! DO NOT TOUCH THEM AS IT COULD KILL THEM!!!