The Last Ocean: Antarctica's Ross Sea Project Saving the Most Pristine Ecosystem on Earth

A stunning collection of oceanic photography documenting the world’s last pristine ocean. Due to its remoteness and harsh weather, Antarctica’s Ross Sea remained free from human interference until 1996, when commercial fishing discovered it. Now that fishery removes 3,000 tons of fish annually, threatening to destroy the world’s last intact ecosystem. The Last Ocean organization started in 2004, joining scientists and environmental groups in a campaign to have the entire Ross Sea designated as an international marine protected area. One of the founding members of The Last Ocean is John Weller, whose photographs from the Ross Sea were collected during four trips to the Antarctic, including a four-month stay at McMurdo and Cape Royds, home of the southernmost penguin colony in the world.

Offering a rare glimpse into life at the edge of the world—from Emperor and Adélie penguins to silverfish, seals, and minke whales—Weller takes the reader on an unprecedented journey above and below the ocean surface. The Last Ocean is more than stunningly beautiful photography. It is a story central to our own: our struggle to sustain a population in a changing climate and with exponentially increasing pressures on world resources.

John Weller is a critically acclaimed photographer, writer, and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer, American Photo, and National Geographic, among other publications. He started The Last Ocean with ecologist Dr. David Ainley in 2004. Carl Safina is founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute at Stony Brook University. Audubon Magazine named him among its "100 Notable Conservationists of the 20th Century."