Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 599.52217742
EAN: 9780684866086
ISBN: 0684866080
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: July 31, 2001
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Sales Rank: 640489
Studio: Simon & Schuster
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Inches below the surface, [the whales] appear not so much gray as whitish blue. The immensity of these creatures is overwhelming. Fully grown they reach at least thirty-five feet in length and weigh more than thirty tons -- ten times the size of a large elephant. The mother dwarfs our little boat. The calf is nearly one-third her size. With a mere flick of the tail, either whale could overturn us.
Eye of the Whale focuses on one great whale in particular -- the coastal-traveling California gray whale. Gray whales make the longest migration of any mammal -- from the lagoons of Baja California to the feeding grounds of the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia (nearly 6,000 miles). That the gray whale exists today is nothing short of miraculous. Whaling fleets twice massacred the species to near extinction -- first during the nineteenth century and again during the early part of the twentieth century. As they moved in for the kill, whalers claimed their prey by naming it: 'Hard-Head'; 'Devil-fish'; 'sea-serpent crossed with an alligator.'
These ominous tags suggest a fearsome creature, yet today the grays are most commonly known as the friendly whale, the species that inspired the whale-watching industry. Eye of the Whale shows the life-changing effect the gray whale has had upon people past and present -- whalers, hunters, marine scientists, whale watchers, and even businessmen -- who have looked into the eye of a whale and have come away transformed. Over the course of this astonishing book, the gray whale emerges as a millennial metaphor, mirroring a host of ecological, political, and social issues concerning our relationship to nature.
The book also traces the remarkable story of Charles Melville Scammon, the whaling captain responsible for bringing gray whales to the brink of extinction after discovering the Baja lagoons in the 1850s to 1860s. Paradoxically, he went on to become one of the most renowned naturalist writers of his time, and in 1874 authored and illustrated a still-definitive work, The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of North America.
More than a hundred years later, author Dick Russell sets out to track the migration of the gray whale and to retrace Scammon's own path. This epic journey stretches from Mexico to California, Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island, Alaska, and into Siberia and even remote Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. In these exotic locales seethe the current controversies surrounding the gray whale: an effort by Mitsubishi and the Mexican government to build a massive new salt factory within its pristine nursery area; the Makah tribe's renewed hunting of gray whales after a hiatus of seventy years; Japan's recruitment of the Makah and other indigenous peoples in their quest to resurrect commercial whaling.
Eye of the Whale is a stunning work of scientific reporting and travel writing that greatly advances our understanding not only of the gray whale but of the natural world. While it may be impossible to know for certain the fate of this majestic creature, with Russell's sage guidance we may glimpse it -- in the eye of the whale.
Amazon.com Review:
More than a century ago, the whaler Charles Melville Scammon chased pods of gray whales across the Pacific, slaughtering them by the hundreds and driving them nearly to the point of extinction. Dick Russell, a noted conservationist and journalist, follows Scammon's wake, bringing news both good and bad about the condition of the gray whale today.
Chronicling a journey along Pacific gray whale routes from Sakhalin Island to the southern tip of Baja California, Russell braces his narrative with the long, politically charged tale of a Japanese corporation's efforts to build a salt-extraction plant on a Mexican lagoon that has served for ages as an important gray whale breeding ground. Writing knowingly of gray whale natural history, and of the effects such an alteration of the environment would have on the species, Russell then turns to other controversial threats to the gray, such as the Washington Makah tribe's decision in the late 1990s to revive a lost tradition of whale-hunting, and the Japanese government's refusal to honor international treaties protecting the gray and other whale species from widespread depredation.
The good news, as Russell writes, is that the Mexican salt plant was eventually stopped. The bad news is that the gray whale is still everywhere under siege. Though it does not displace recent books such as Serge Dedina's Saving the Gray Whale and Robert Sullivan's A Whale Hunt, Russell's is by far the most complete popular account of the gray whale across its wide range, and it makes useful reading for anyone seeking to learn more about this key marine species. --Gregory McNamee
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - A Wonderful Book
The critics are right to rave about "Eye of the Whale" by Dick Russell. In it's plainest form, the book entails a synopsis of the legendary gray whale and it's journeys through Oregon, Washington, the shores of Monterey, Vancouver Island, the Bearing Sea, the Bering Strait (Alaska), and Sakhalin Island, a hot topic in recent news. One of the best explanations of the book I can find is when someone describes encountering a gray whale. "Especially when you looked at its eyes, you just knew it probably thought it was a boatload of those [people] who like to pet them" In this passage we see a lot of what the book is about: People encountering the majestic grays and suddenly have a new opinion of them.
The book has many passage from Charles Melville Scammon, a nineteenth century whaler who brought gray whales to popularity, by nearly killing them all. He then turned naturalist, and studied the gray whale extensively, following them around the globe. Russell tells the story of retracing Scammon's steps and gaining a new perspective.
What is so strong about the book is the writing. When I opened it I didn't think I was going have a thrill a minute, and I didn't. But, I was surprised of it's intricately weaved passages, interesting readers, telling a simple story, and making a strong point without yelling it at you. In this way, Russell has helped the grays greatly by encouraging whale conservation, and showing the many sides of being an endangered species.
The books weaknesses ... Read More
Rating:  - gray whales!
Expecting another boring science book on whales, I was surprised at the way Dick Russell made the whales seem what they should be: interesting. Russell covers almost all aspects of the gray whales in his book Eye of the Whale. As he follows the migratory path of the whales along the coast, the reader gets a good sense of the science, history, and issues surrounding gray whales. He writes about the story of Charles Scammon, the legendary whaler whose research on gray whales is still used by scientists today. He writes about conservation issues and the politics behind the plan to build a saltworks in the protected lagoons. He writes about the individuals involved in gray whale research along the coast. What I really liked about this book though was that instead of just telling the reader about these things, he shows them. He makes the book read more like a story than just a research paper about conservation by using personal accounts and treating the people in his book not just as researchers but as characters. I didn't like when he would go into long, and confusing background explanations that were hard not to skip over. Other than that though it was a well written and up to date account of the interaction between humans and the gray whales. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in whales at all. You don't need to be a scientist to understand it and it is interesting and informational at the same time.
Rating: - "That immense...intense and impeccable eye"
Staring into THE EYE OF THE WHALE certainly seems to be a mystical experience. Unfortunately on the whale watching trips I've been on you get no closer to the whales than the deck of the ship. Not close up and personal (sometimes even rubbing and patting the "friendly whales")as is the case in Baja, California, with watching the Gray whales from small Zodiac boats. Perhaps you are like me then and (unlike the author) know nothing about the metaphysical powers of whales and their ability to bring about meditative and contemplative states in mankind while imparting transcendental wisdom. This book is therefore equal parts a journey of self discovery by the author and a natural history and scientific discourse on the Pacific Gray whale. For my liking there are just a few too many experiences here such as this one by a marine biologist: "It was a calf and I could see its eye looking into my eyes...I knew we were talking..." Mr Spock mind-melds with Gracie the Humpback a la STAR TREK: THE VOYAGE HOME.
Although the author and others see "whales smile by my fingertips" and get all "misty eyed" and believe that the whales are "trying to save us from our human side" these sentimental and lyrical asides are simply a matter of writing style. Overall they do not spoil the book. There is sufficient science and history here to satisfy those looking for something other than a "save the whales / save the world" soft-sell. The defeat of Mitsubishi's proposed salt-works at one of the whale breeding lagoons ... Read More
Rating: - An excellent chronicle and tribute to the Gray Whale
Dick Russell has produced an amazing chronicle of the life of the California Gray whale. This is a book that is not only important today but will hold a place of value and respect hundreds of years into the future. Sadly this book may most likely survive the species itself.
I have spent over two decades studying and working to protect the Gray whale and I've lead four major conservation expeditons to protect the species. The first was in 1981 to Siberia, the 2nd and 3rd to Neah Bay in 98 and 99 to oppose the Makah whale hunt and the 4th to San Ignacio in 2000 to oppose the development of an industrial salt processing scheme that would have damaged the breeding and calving homes of the Grays.
Dick Russell got all the facts right in the areas that I have intimate involvement with so I can safely assume that his facts in all other areas are equally investigated and thus correct.
This is a wonderful story and it is a great work of historical documentation both natural,social and cultural.
My life was changed by looking into the eye of a whale in 1975. I believe that Dick also caught a glimpse of the mystery, the majesty, the magic and the marvel of the mind of the whale reflected from the eye of one of these great and gentle giants.
For only a person who has seen into the eye of a whale could have written such an insightful book.
I intend to buy a dozen of Dick Russell's books for Christmas presents this year.
Rating: - Not Just Whales, But Humans
_Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia_ (Simon and
Schuster) by Dick Russell is a brilliant and comprehensive account not
so much about the gray whale, but about how the humans and whales have
interacted over the centuries, and especially in the past few
decades. It is hard to imagine that there is any aspect of this
subject that Russell has not covered. The truly amazing part of the
gray whale�s story is that it had a terrible reputation in the
whaler�s day. It was called a devilfish, and was viewed as a
dangerous quarry, especially when it was protecting its young. It had
to be approached with fear (and this was realized in the Japanese
fisheries as well). It is a devilfish no longer. No one knows why, but
sometime in the 1970s the behavior of the whales changed. Into the
lagoons of Baja, the whales go in the winter to mate and to deliver
calves. The whales started becoming interested in the humans that had
put out in their boats to see them. They presented themselves at the
surface, turning on their sides to point an eye up to look at the
humans that used to kill them for oil and meat, and for baleen to
stiffen their corsets. They seemed to enjoy being scratched and
touched. Individual whales, returning year after year, seemed to
spread the behavior, which has become the norm. They even nudge the
calves toward the boats to introduce the new arrivals into the
activity.
Read More
Browse for similar items by category:
|
