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Troubled waters - the changing fortunes of whales and dolphins

Dispelling common misconceptions – are dolphins really supernaturally intelligent? Are the great whales in danger of extinction? – and opening up current arguments, this gripping investigation explains just why whales and dolphins became one of the major harvests of the sea, and how humans are destined to affect their future.

ISBN: 0 565 09192 1

Author: Sarah Lazarus

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Troubled waters - the changing fortunes of whales and dolphins

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Exploited, killed, adored. For centuries, whales and dolphins were regarded as nothing more than an economic resource. When a whale swam up the River Thames in 1658 gleeful locals hurried to the river’s shores and simply hacked the animal to death.
In January 2006, almost 350 years later, a northern bottlenose whale inadvertently attempted a similar journey and captured the affection of a nation. Man’s relationship with whales and dolphins has been as exploitative as it is appreciative. Today, interest in these enduringly popular animals is at an all time high but do they continue to swim in troubled waters? This gripping narrative explores the fates of whales and dolphins and how they became intertwined with human history. The story begins over 1000 years ago when hunters first took up harpoons and went to sea in search of the rich rewards of meat, oil and whalebone. Troubled Waters charts a course through the whaling boom of the 18th and 19th centuries, the tragic implications of commercial fishing and noise pollution, the controversial keeping of dolphins in captivity, and the current row over Japanese and Norwegian whaling.

Product information

Hardback, 135 x 203 mm, 224 pp, 8 pp colour section
plus scattered b&w illustrations.

0 565 09192 1

Publication date 3rd November 2006

Published by the Natural History Museum, London

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