“It was noon and I was already on my third tank of the day. We had no cage, no protection, at all around us and more sharks than I could possibly hope to keep an eye on at once. For some people this would be a nightmare. For me, heaven.” This is how Jonathan Bird, author of Creatures of the Deep Blue, describes how he came to take a stunning picture of 25 of the ocean’s big biggest predators, including five tiger sharks, in the Bahamas. The Emmy Award-winning photographer has made over 20 films for broadcast, published articles and images in hundreds of magazines and written six books on underwater photography in his long standing career, but his passion for large marine animals is undiminished. It speaks from every beautiful blue photograph on the book’s 12 pages. Creatures of the Deep Blue takes the reader on an underwater safari, its pages dominated by group shots or close ups of animals ordinary people would never dream of being able to get close to. There are sharks, rays, whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and most fascinating, the elusive and majestic West Indian manatees. In this lively narrative, Bird also recounts his adventures and encounters with these giants of the oceans but, thankfully, these are kept to a minimum so as not to distract from his enthralling photographs. A book that brings out the under water explorer in anyone – all you need now is your flippers, snorkel and maybe a chain mail body suit.

From the gentle plant-eating giant known as the manatee, to the carnivorous sharks and massive whales that would dwarf a train carriage, the deep blue expanse of water covering the earth is home to a staggering number of big creatures. Underwater photographer Jonathan Bird has explored the oceans photographing turtles, dolphins, seals the creatures of the deep blue, some dangerous, some intelligent, some friendly, but all equally fascinating. Priced at £16.99 published by Evans Mitchell Books. Code: Creatures of the Deep Blue.

The world beneath the sea continues to capture the imagination, as professional underwater photographer, Jonathan Bird is only too aware. His latest publication, Creatures of the Deep Blue is a veritable marine safari as he takes in some of the largest and most fantastic sea creatures. Not only does it feature truly awesome shots of familiar giants of the deep - from whales to manatees and rays to turtles – Bird has also included the first ever shot of the magnificent oarfish, the longest bony fish on Earth, taken in its natural habitat. What makes the book all the more engrossing is the author’s illuminating text that accompanies the photographs. The 30 second encounter with the oarfish baffled locals in the Bahamas to the extent that Bird had to take his picture to an eminent ichthyologist at the University of California to have it identified. Furthermore, Bird’s meeting with the oarfish allowed the scientific community to glean several previously unknown facts about this strangest of sea creatures, such as the way that it swims and that it prefers a vertical orientation in the water column. There’s plenty of fun in the book as well, such as the smiling Galapagos sea lion and the massive whale shark feasting on tiny plankton and small fish. Oddities like the hammerhead and the Tassled Wobbegong sharks will raise an eyebrow or two - as will the stunning shot of a sea lion so comfortable around human beings that it falls asleep.

Rubbing shoulders with whales and swimming with sharks just for a picture sounds like a dangerous occupation to we landlubber landscapers, but for internationally acclaimed underwater photographer Jonathan Bird, flipping around like the man from Atlantis with a camera is nothing more than a day in the office – and his latest book is an excellent testament to his underwater work. Rather him than me, though – I’m not sure that if I came face-to-face with a southern stingray or an adult female sperm whale I’d be able to keep my nerve to fire the shutter. There are pages of great pictures in this book, and if it is the creatures from the deep that press your photo button then this one is for you.

It is obvious Jonathan Bird has a passion for his job, and what a job. He travels the globe photographing the incredible underwater world. His subjects range from the tiniest of turtles in the Galapagos to awe-inspiring, gigantic sperm whales that spend 90 per cent of their lives in the abyss, rarely surfacing. The pictures are accompanied by detailed and entertaining text giving information on the creatures. It also offers an insight into the problems that have to be faced in order to get photographs in what are quite often, to say the least, challenging circumstances. These include a flashgun not firing when he was presented with an opportunity to get the first-ever image of a live oarfish in the Bahamas and being almost fatally attacked while photographing sharks in the Marshall Islands. The author’s passion for the subject is infectious and over the 129 pages, I was not only entertained but also found that I had learned much about this hidden world.