"Moby Dick by Herman Melville is the story of Captain Ahab's quest to avenge the whale that 'reaped' his leg. The quest is an obsession and the novel is a diabolical study of how a man becomes a fanatic. But it is also a hymn to democracy. Bent as the crew is on Ahab's appalling crusade, it is equally the image of a co-operative community at work: all hands dependent on all hands, each individual responsible for the security of each. Among the crew...

From the Biblical prophet Jonah to Moby-Dick to recent discoveries of cetacean songs and culture, Roman examines the whale's role in history, art, literature, commerce, and science. Whale features vibrant illustrations, ranging from Stone Age carvings to full-color underwater photographs, which vividly bring to life the rich symbolic meanings surrounding the whale. Roman also examines the ecological and evolutionary history of the whale as well as...

"A leading scientist dives into the secret lives of whales, from their evolutionary past to today's cutting edge of science. Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-sized creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live two hundred years, and travel entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and...

"Wrested back to Cabarita Beach by her grandmother's sudden death, Kate Summer discovers a mystery buried in the past that changes everything. Kate returns home to the sleepy hamlet of Cabarita Beach and the run-down Waratah Inn for her grandmother's funeral. She spent many happy childhood years at the inn, but all she wants to do now is sell the dilapidated boutique inn and head back to the city and her busy, professional life. But she and her two...

Willa has a whale of a problem. Willa the whale's a worrywart. She feels timid about raising her fin in class: What if she takes too long to answer or, worse, gets it wrong? When her teacher calls on her encouragingly, Willa remains silent. Whew! That worked; she's saved. But Willa begins to reflect on the teacher's comment to the class: "It isn't always easy / To share the things we know, / But ideas, thoughts, and questions / Are the way we learn...

Twelve-year-old Iris and her grandmother, both deaf, drive from Texas to Alaska armed with Iris's plan to help Blue-55, a whale unable to communicate with other whales.

In The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, cetacean biologists Hal Whitehead, who has spent much of his life on the ocean trying to understand whales, and Luke Rendell, whose research focuses on the evolution of social learning, open an astounding porthole onto the fascinating culture beneath the waves. As Whitehead and Rendell show, cetacean culture and its transmission are shaped by a blend of adaptations, innate sociality, and the unique environment...

Do you know what whale is the world's largest animal? Or which whale's head is up to one-third the length of its entire body? Or why some whales sing to one another? This book provides young readers with answers to these and other questions about whales.