Under Cape Cod Waters – An Aquatic Impression

Ethan Daniels’s mesmerizing new book “Under Cape Cod Waters” (Union Park Press) takes a photographic lens to the underwater world that lives symbiotically with and within the shifting landscapes of Cape Cod. The true essence of Cape Cod is inextricably bound to the waters that fill its ponds, rivers and marshes and unfurl in waves onto its breathtaking beaches and to the flora and fauna that call these waters home. Ethan’s photographs illuminate this submerged and fascinating world.  From the a-z of anemones to zooplankton and the captivating shots of turtles and sea stars, Ethan presents the myriad of life that inhabits this watery world.

After many years travelling and photographing marine life across the globe from Micronesia to Belize to Palau, the beckoning finger of Cape Cod drew Ethan back to his roots on Cape Cod.  The series of Cape Cod photographs that comprise Ethan’s book capture the variety and richness of underwater scenes that exist everyday side-by-side with the mundane goings-on of us terrestrial folks; an alien world that is and always has been an inherent part of the Cape’s identity. Sea, ponds, rivers and estuaries have always been supporting the Cape’s inhabitants; Pilgrim seafarers and Portuguese fishermen, oyster farmers and Harwich & Chatham fishermen, whale tours and scuba-diving, and the world renown Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institution.
But Ethan also sends us a powerful message about the need to preserve and foster the aquatic life and water supplies of the Cape. The eco-system requires a fine balancing act for its sustainability and that is easily threatened by over-development, over-population and the accompanying environment contamination and impact that comes along with it. We need to ensure that the decisions we make always look to the immediate and long-term consequences for our fragile environment so that we can play out our responsibility to ensure that Cape Cod’s aquatic life remains abundant and thriving. Hopefully Ethan’s book does something to raise and maintain awareness of the beauty that lies beneath the water that it’s our task to look after.

The book “Under Cape Cod waters” is published by Union Park Press in Boston (http://www.unionparkpress.com) , who specialize in books about art, history and culture of Boston and New England.  You can also find a copy to peruse or purchase at The Platinum Pebble….who knew?