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Fathoms: The World in the Whale
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About This Book
When writer Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales shed light on the condition of our seas. Fathoms: The World in the Whale blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? Will our connection to these storied animals be transformed by technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendour, and fragility of life? In Fathoms, we learn about whales so rare they have never been named, whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet's atmosphere. We travel to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales and delve into the deepest seas to discover the plastic pollution now pervading the whale's undersea environment. In the spirit of Rachel Carson and Rebecca Solnit, Giggs gives us a vivid exploration of the natural world even as she addresses what it means to write about nature at a time of environmental crisis.
Reviews
"she uses whales as invitations to consider everything else: the selfie-ization of environmentalism, the inherent worth of parasites, Jungian psychoanalysis, solar storms, whale songs records going multiplatinum and so much more."
"This book is an act of divination: Giggs reads the debris as tea leaves ..."
"Giggs explores the contours of humans' obsession with whales over time in terrific specificity."
"Hoare, favors paragraphs lacquered with luminous detail, and the authors share a talent for copious research."
"That other lives as marvelous and mysterious as these still exist is, for the moment at least, a reason to celebrate."
"It bends the familiar tale of Jonah into an ouroboros: whale swallowing human swallowing whale ..."
"She offers a startling assessment of how smart phones pose new perils for the wild, and ponders the loss to our inner lives if we destroy the mystery of the sea."
"Most importantly, she analyzes how their behavior can be predictive for the Earth's future."
"In lyrical language, Giggs leads readers on a journey through underwater cultures and the place of whales in the chain of life."
"Until we showed up ..."
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