Welcome to coasts and reefs where you can find information about marine life. The first part focuses on studies of marine species by scientists in the past.
Special attention is given to pre-Linnaean works, of the time before modern classification of species commenced.
An other part of this site consists of modern information, microphotography and underwater pictures by scuba divers.
The oldest works about marine biology are relatively unknown.
Because they came out before the classification by Linnaeus they are neglected by science.
It's a pity, they are interesting to read and to beautiful illustrated to forget.
Also these works still have their value as we continue to build on their knowledge.
These pages give an introduction to these old marine biology works and provide links to most of them.
Marine biology timeline before Linnaeus
The richness of an 16-th century enthusiast.
The Dutch fish-auctioneer and official beachcomber Adriaen Coenen wrote and painted beautiful hand painted books on marine species.
With his knowledge of both marine species and the modern literature of his time he produced unique documents that give insight in the 16-th century points of view.
In rich illustrated books he combined early scientific knowledge with medieval fantasies in a most natural way.
Viscboeck and Walvisboeck 1581 and 1585
An outburst of Dutch marine biology in the 18th century.
In the 18th century the Dutch physician Job Baster studied marine life in the Oosterschelde near Zierikzee in the south of Holland.
His work resulted in a book with fine illustrations of marine animals and their microscopic details.
His example was soon followed by the merchant Leendert Bomme and the civil servant Martinus Slabber.
More about Baster, Slabber and Bomme and their books.
On this site you can not only look at the illustrations made by Baster and Slabber but also find extensive information about identification of their species in past.
An update on the identification of species is carried out by Godfried van Moorsel and me, consulting specialists of the different taxa.
More about the sites the places where found.
If you want to go to their works directly:
Baster's Natuurkundige uitspanningen 1759-1765
Slabber's Natuurkundige verlustigingen 1769-1778
Bomme's papers and manuscripts 1769-1782
Even dull looking marine ports contain interesting species when you zoom in. Collect some material and study it under a microscope.
In 2010 I started to look at small organisms along the coast of the Waddensea. Text in Dutch but many microscopic photos as well.
(Most recent photo's: Terschelling 23 december 2011)
Zoom into hard substrate species in ports of the Dutch Waddensea
Study some ecological backgrounds.
See how the physical enviroment determines the occurrence of coastal communities on a worldwide scale.
Also information is provided about each community apart.
Covered subjects are are distribution, biodiversity, feeding, how the community influences the environment and threats.
Study the ecology of coasts
Coasts and reefs are nice to explore. In most cases you'll find a fascinating marine life. Unfortunately we can just visit a fraction of the coasts of the world. How do al that other sites look like? Divers with their camera's show it to you, here is my contribution.
Click on a red spot on the map to find out more about the coast
Floris Bennema 
the Netherlands