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The Blue Planet by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes

By Jon Copley

13 October 2001

The Blue Planet by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes, BBC, £24.99, ISBN 0563384980

PLANET Earth-as David Bowie’s Major Tom observed-is blue. The Blue Planet, a tie-in to a BBC television series, begins by explaining what gives it that distinctive hue.

When it comes to geography and biology, the oceans have size on their side. They provide 97 per cent of the Lebensraum of our planet and the setting for its greatest animal migration. Every evening, 100 million tonnes of creatures commute from the ocean depths to the surface.

The Blue Planet should revive anyone jaded by the “year-in-the-life…

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