Books by Helen Scales

“I think what’s remarkable about this book is that it’s really hopeful. This is a time where, you can feel quite depressed about the state of the climate and what it is doing to the natural world, including—and especially, one could argue—to the oceans. She gives a manifesto of reasons that we shouldn’t despair, how things could change, and how we can still protect reserves and regenerate seagrass meadows, kept forests, and coral reefs. Having that manifesto is very helpful to a reader. It’s a kind of forensic look at what has gone wrong and could go wrong, but also how we could find our way out of this and protect our oceans.” Read more...

The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction

Kavita Puri, Journalist

“This book is wonderful. As you can see, I’ve read it very thoroughly—there are a million Post-it notes all through it. Helen Scales is a trained marine biologist, writer, and public broadcaster. She is an extraordinary writer who can unpack very complex ocean science and make it fascinating and digestible for the average person. The Brilliant Abyss is a deep dive into the extraordinary life and the seafloor features that we’re finding in the deep sea and all the potential discoveries that accompany them. At the same time, it’s about the growing threats to the deep sea, including deep sea fishing and deep sea mining. These forces are converging on the deep sea, which is the world’s largest wilderness refuge in the world. It makes sense that all these industrial forces want to extract from and exploit it. Scales writes about the beauty of the deep sea and the threats to it.” Read more...

The Best Books of Ocean Journalism

Laura Trethewey, Journalist