A Bridport author has written a new book centred around organisms that live deep underwater.

Erich Hoyt, who has written 25 books for adults and children, has now published Planktonia, which tells the story of ‘the greatest migration in the ocean - which happens twice each night.’

Mr Hoyt, a research fellow who has worked in whale and dolphin conservation, said: “Unlike migrating whales or birds, plankton undertakes a vertical migration.

“After sunset, zooplankton, followed by predator fish, squid, octopus and others start moving up from the deep waters to the surface waters to feed, mate and hopefully to avoid being eaten.

“In Planktonia, I invite the reader to dive into the night-time ocean and to follow the researchers with their macro photo lenses to uncover a secret world.

"Planktonia gets up close and personal with the flamboyant larval forms of ornate ghost pipefish, left-handed hermit crabs, bony-eared assfish and black-blotched porcupinefish, most of them less than an inch long.”

The author and co-chair of the IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas spent a year researching for the book.

He said: “Part of the research was interviewing so-called blackwater divers and scientists, some of them citizen scientists.

“Scientists are still learning about the behaviour of these species and some of them cannot even be identified. Others have only been named in the past few years. I sent drafts of the book to various experts to correct errors and expand the texts on the species.”

Recently, Planktonia turned up at the top of the list of best new books on marine and coastal ocean wildlife by Dr Helen Scales and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Mr Hoyt said his favourite chapter is ‘The Precious Life of Plankton’ which tells the story of Ryo Minemizu, a Japanese macro photographer who has spent his life uncovering the lives of the zooplankton found in several deepwater bays off southern Japan.

Mr Hoyt said: “He has made more than 28,000 dives in 30 years, starting out as an office worker who was introduced to diving, and now he has discovered new species and collaborated on scientific papers. His patience and his reverence and respect for plankton are inspiring.”

It is not only in tropical waters that this migration happens as it is taking place closer to home in in Lyme Bay as well as in the nearby open ocean waters.

The author added: “This migration drives ocean ecosystems and to a lesser extent there is also vertical migration of plankton in lakes, too.”

You can find out more about the book here: https://erichhoyt.com/books/planktonia/ and it can be purchased from most online book retailers.