Cultured Travel Guide Books - The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals |
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List Price: $34.99
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Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.9595
EAN: 9781400105274
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 1400105277
Label: Tantor Media
Manufacturer: Tantor Media
Number Of Items: 9
Publication Date: 2007-09-18
Publisher: Tantor Media
Studio: Tantor Media |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Whale Warriors
Comment: If you are interested in the environment and whales and support the fact that what the Japanese are doing by slaughtering whales is WRONG then you MUST read this book, I thought it was great !!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ahab Against the Whalers
Comment: It is only toward the end of _The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals_ (Free Press) that author Peter Heller describes the atrocities being committed against whales by the Japanese whaling fleets. He doesn't see them himself, but describes a video that was shot aboard one of the whalers showing the effects of explosive harpoons and the drawn out electrocution of a pregnant whale. "There is no more barbaric method of slaughter on earth, in any meat industry," Heller writes. "This prolonged butchery and torture are reserved for the most intelligent, most social order of beings." You don't have to be an ecology freak or tree hugger to be disgusted by the slaughter, carried out by Japanese whalers in the guise of doing scientific research (and then, oh, by the way, selling the "autopsied" whales for meat). It doesn't matter that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society does seem to consist mostly ecology freaks, vegans, and starry-eyed whale enthusiasts. They are doing what they can to stop the whale hunts, and this book is Heller's riveting account of Sea Shepherd's voyage at the end of 2005 to confront the whale hunters on their own grounds.
Sea Shepherd has its own ship, the _Farley Mowatt_, an ancient 200-ton former freighter, painted black and flying the Jolly Roger. By at least some definitions, the crew are pirates, and their work is certainly not subtle, including ramming, using propeller foulers to entangle the props and immobilize the ship, and stink bombs. They get away with it because no one wants to take them to court where they can publicize the evils of whaling. The captain of the _Farley_ and its 43 volunteer crewmembers is the bearish Paul Watson, an original founder of Greenpeace from which he is now estranged. As Heller pictures him, he is an anti-Ahab, monomaniacally pursuing those who are pursuing whales, brilliant in leadership and expression, but also quite possibly crazy. "I did not think he was exactly insane," Heller writes. His fast-moving account of the 51 days of pursuit includes portraits of remarkable crew members, many of whom are completely inexperienced as sailors. It isn't all grim on board; there is a great deal of silliness, poker games, much drinking, bad music, snowboarding on icebergs, and even a New Year's Day dip in the icy water. The descriptions of the _Farley_ at sea, encrusted with ice and taking dangerous rolls are indeed scary. The eventual chase and the climatic confrontation with the whalers is full of adrenaline, while the ship's muted success fits fully the ambiguities described herein.
Paul Watson's tactics may be controversial, but readers will be cheering for him by the end of this book. The reason is that Sea Shepherd might be pirates, but they still have the moral high ground against whalers. On this very voyage, they were pursuing Japanese whalers who were bent on killing whales which everyone knows are endangered, and taking them out of waters within an internationally established whale sanctuary. You don't have to agree with Watson's methods, but everyone must agree that current international conservation laws are not being enforced, and that the world is turning a blind eye to violations because of reluctance to upset trading partners. Heller's brilliant account of a harrowing voyage might report the quixotic follies of the ship _Farley Mowatt_, but it is an angry and bitter education into the destructive follies of whaling.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Read of my life...
Comment: There has never been a book that has spoken to me like this one. It takes you through so many emotions - pain, frustration, anticipation, laughter, hope. Even if you cannot completely agree with Captain Paul Watson's actions, you can appreciate his passion. You turn the pages eagerly, waiting for a climax and even when it comes it leaves you wanting more. And that is the point - this is a story that will never end as long as there is the unnecessary murder of the oceans most peaceful mammals and a man like Captain Paul Watson ready to protect them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Page-turning adventure and high quality information
Comment: As author Peter Heller says on his web site, no writer of fiction could hope to invent the wild truth on display in this tale of adventure on the high seas. Heller joined Captain Paul Watson and his 44 crew members aboard the Farley Mowat to find and stop the Japanese whaling fleet in 2005.
Heller's balance of objectivity and subjectivity provides for a very engaging and exciting read. This book is perfect for reading aloud, which is how we have been approaching it. Heller's prose style creates a you-are-there feeling. Mingled with regular visits to the Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace web sites for real-time blog updates, the reader can really feel like they are on the journey. This is an ongoing battle between those who see whales as intelligent, sensitive, and aware; and those who see them only as a "resource" to be harvested to the fullest extent. It is being played out right now in the southern ocean, so this book has an immediacy and relevance beyond the story it tells of 2005.
It would be enough if this were a great adventure well told, but The Whale Warriors is more than that. It is a decent introduction to the current state of the ocean. The information is woven so neatly into the story that the blend of plot, commentary and factual information is nearly seamless.
Kudos to Peter Heller for taking on a controversial and emotional subject, and telling the story in a form accessible to everyone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Arresting Eco-Adventure
Comment: The Whale Warriors is an exciting page turner about the 2006 whaling campaign in Antartica. It is chock full of harrowing information about the state of our seas (scientists predict the entire ocean will collapse by 2048!) to amazing insight into marine mammals (dolphins will refer to themselves and the dolphin they are communicating with by name AND also refer to a third dolphin by name during a dolphin-conversation).
The book delves into the interesting and diverse cast of characters aboard the Farley Morat. Who would give up everything (family, a livelihood) to risk their lives at the edges of the earth for a whale? You'd be surprised.
This book is both exhilarating and heart-breaking. An adventure worth taking that will change, forever, the way you look at the ocean.
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| Editorial Reviews: |
In the tradition of The Perfect Storm, The Whale Warriors takes us on a hair-raising journey aboard a whale-saving pirate ship with a vigilante crew whose mission is to stop illegal Japanese whaling in the stormy remote seas off Antarctica.
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