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War Of The Whales: A True Story (2014)

by Joshua Horwitz(Favorite Author)

4.11 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1451645015 (ISBN13: 9781451645019)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: Horowitz tells a story about a stranding of whales in the Bahamas, the search for the cause, ensuing battle between the Navy who caused of the stranding and environmental community, resultant legal battle, and the persons involved. It was unclear what direction the author was taking in telling the story -- whether it was most about the whales, the leaders, or the battle. It ends up seeming to be most about one person who found the whales, remained active in the battle in spite of the damage it did to his life and career.The story of the Navy's involvement is a conflict of priorities and a failure to see ourselves as part of a larger ecosystem. If we attempt to protect ourselves but damage our ecosystem, we fail to protect ourselves.
review 2: Thanks for the ARC... more from Simon and Schuster through the First Reads program! This book expertly weaves together marine biology, environmental science, and law. It should really be called "War on Whales," however. It is intensely depressing. The relationship between humans and whales has long been exploitative; we think of the oceans as vast and therefore its resources cannot be depleted. The term "hunted to extinction" repeatedly cropped up. After commercial whaling was banned, humans found new ways to exploit the whales by putting them in SeaWorld. Humans learned from the whales' use of echolocation and biosonar, and now our military and oil companies (not just the US) creates incredibly loud underwater sonar that literally makes the whales' ears and brains bleed. I suppose we should derive hope from the "protagonists" in the book, the activists, lawyers, and biologists who respect nature, because without people like them I'm not sure what kind of world we would be living in today. This issue remains unresolved and I look forward to new developments. less

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