For decades, marine scientists Robert and Alice Jane Lippson have traveled the Inner Coast—the rivers, backwaters, sounds, bays, lagoons, and inlets stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys—aboard their trawler,Odyssey. The culmination of their leisurely journeys, Life along the Inner Coast is a guidebook to the plants, animals, and habitats found in one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet.

This dense system of waterways contains an incredible range of salinity levels, from fresh to brackish to oceanic, and is host to flora and fauna that have adapted to both specific and broad ranges of ecological habitats. The Lippsons explore each habitat, from wooded wetlands, broad marshes, and sandy beaches, to the hundreds of piers and pilings thrusting into the waters, to the vast shallow waters rich in populations of fish, crabs, mollusks, and myriad other marine creatures. They describe more than 800 species that are beautifully illustrated with meticulous ink drawings and photographs and organized according to habitat type and geographic region.

Ranging from the busy commercial harbor at Norfolk through vast expanses of marshlands of the mid-Atlantic to the tropical mangrove islands of Florida, Life along the Inner Coast offers readers a rich understanding of the relationships between organisms and where they live. It is a valuable resource for naturalists, students, and anyone who lives or vacations along the Atlantic Inner Coast.