AN AWARD-WINNING Bridport author explores some of the sea's deepest mysteries in his latest book.

Erich Hoyt, author and whale researcher, has published his 24th book - 'Strange Sea Creatures'.

The book details and categorises a variety of sea-dwelling creatures, delving into some of the biggest mysteries on the sea.

Mr Hoyt organizes the otherworldly creatures into three layers based on where they live in the ocean. Each layer features various marine animal classes - fish, crustaceans, jellyfish and siphonophores, squids, tunicates and other invertebrates - and photographs of the creatures are accompanied by informative captions.

Mr Hoyt said: "Following my latest research trips to Mozambique and Western Australia in February 2020, I have stayed home like everyone else.

“But my head has been deep underwater, spending long days contacting scientists, learning about the latest discoveries in the ocean and writing text.”

Photographers featured in the book include black-water divers Linda Ianniello and Susan Mears - who make nightly descents into the Gulf Stream off Florida - and David Shale, who has worked on BBC Blue Planet amongst other programmes.

One photograph even shows a Blue Dragon riding and feeding on a Portuguese Man O’War – a species that been spotted in West Bay in recent months.

The final section of the book showcases the work of Alex Semenov who specialises in deep Arctic photography and worked for a season with Mr Hoyt’s killer whale team in Kamchatka, Russia.

The is a vast range of creatures detailed in the book. Some measure scarcely an inch long yet make extensive vertical migrations every night from the depths to the surface to feed, others have photophores or lights along their bodies that pulse and flash in patterns that send messages to mates but can trick their enemies.

Strange Sea Creatures is available in most book shops, both in store and online.