Aquarium Book

Why do a million people a year visit the tiny seacoast town of Newport, Oregon, whose population is only 8,400? It isn't the beautiful beaches or the quaint fishing harbor, it's the Oregon Coast Aquarium. In cities large and small around the world, recent innovations in aquarium design have transformed what were once damp, stodgy science displays into lively and exciting introductions to the fascinating undersea world.

Attracted by the new spectacles offered to aquarium visitors, Diane Cook and Len Jenshel have traveled around the world photographing these dramatic environments and their enthralled audiences. Fifteen aquariums in North America, five in Europe, five in the Caribbean (including three in Cuba), and three in Japan are included.

Seventy photographs, half in color and half in black-and-white, are accompanied by an interview with the photographers by Lawrence Wechsler, the much-honored New Yorker writer.