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AN
AUSTRALIAN GUIDE TO WHALE WATCHING.
Ross
Isaacs & Tina Dalton. A complete reference manual ,including identification
of species, behaviour, popular whale watching spots, natural history, conservation
and research.
A
very handy book and nicely put together. Softcover, 96 pages, colour and
mono photos.
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DOLPHIN
DOLPHIN
Wade Doak
Hodder and Staughton. Auckland,
London, Sydney. 1981
Harcover, dustjacket, 244
pages colour plates.
The author is one New Zealand's
top divers, a marine naturalist, photograther and author. And a delightful
man. The book has become somewhat of a classic in the eyes of those who
love the sea and its marine mammals. It's hard to describe it - more of
a journey into humanity I suppose, an experience of underderstanding a
creature that matches our own intelligence in many ways. Perhaps it surpasses
us - after all, we don't kill our own species just for a disagreement,
or wipe ourselves out on drugs and alcohol and fast fatty foods. Maybe
they would of they could! But we increase our own humanity just by being
a little bit more understanding of the animals tghat share the Earth with
us. Wade Doak has encouraged us to do that, and given us more information,
more incentive to do so. In five parts, with appendicies: Approaching the
Ocean Nomads; Dephinic Acceptqance; Dolphin Approaches to Humankind; With
Larger Minds; Towards a Global Network. This is a must read for anyone
even the slightest bit interested in dolphins. It has an even grreater
message than just the curiosity that we show with these creatures that
have no fear of humans and indeed seem to want to communicate and bond
with us. Read it! |
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KILLERS
OF EDEN
The
Killer Whales of Twofold Bay
Tom
Mead. Many publishers over the years. First published in 1961 - through
to 1991 by Angus and Robertson - in hardback and paperback.
Arkon
paperback in 1973, and hardcover in 1975.
Vabtage
Press New York in 1986.
Large
Print Australia in 1991.
The
edition shown is by Dolphin Books, Oatley, Australia 2002. Softcover, 247
pages.
For
almost a hundred years the same pack of killer whales returned to Eden,
on the centrl east coast of Australia, where they would herd whales into
Twofold Bay. There appears to have been a conscious effort by the killer
whales to attract the attention of the whalers. The last killer whale to
perform this service to the whalers died in 1930 - none have returned.
This is an incredible true story involving the Davidson family of Twofold
Bay, told in a most readable manner. More like a mystery novel. Fascinating. |
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SEASONS
OF THE SEAL
Fred Bruemmer and Brian
Davies
Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.,
London. 1988
Hardcover, dustjacket, very
large coffee table format, 160 pages, full colour throughout, no index.
A superb books, beautifully
illustrated with some double-page, full-page and half-page photographs
- excellent photographic work.
It is about Canada'ws Harp
Seal - and we know what happens to them. The clubbing of the pups just
for their pelts has been described as a travesty by world opinion and the
Canadian government should have been ashamed with the seal hunt described
as the greatest, most protracted mass slaughter ever inflicted upon any
wild mammal species. Does it still occur? I am not so sure. Just because
we no longer see anything on the ubiquitous television screen does not
mean that it is over. Culling? Sure!
Chapters include The Icy
Cradle of the Seals; In the World of Crystal Caverns; Evanesent Nurseries;
The Dance of Love; The Waifs; Food, Fat and New Fur; Kairulit-the Jumping
SEals; With Walruses and Unicorns; Down the Ict Labrador; Return to the
Gulf.. 'Oh, aren't they cute?', you may well ask. They certainly are, and
if this book doesn't make you appreciate their value to the Earth we live
on then nothing will move you. The excellent photographs are supported
by authoritive text which continues to give us further appreciation and
knowledge of these animals. Would make a great gift. The book also! |
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THE
LIVES OF WHALES AND DOLPHINS
Richard
C. Connor, and Dawn Micklethwaite Peterson.
Henry
Holt & Co., New York. 1994.
Softcover,
colour plates, 233 pages.
Is
the undersea really the ‘silent world' as described by Jacques Cousteau?
On the contrary. We know that whales and dolphins communicate by sound,
but what does a whale hear when it listens, or a dolphin ‘squeaks'. Do
whales burp? Their stomachs certainly rumble. How do whales and dolphins
court and reeproduce, and bring up their young. How do dolphins breath,
and why do some whales breach. Are they ‘intelligent'? This remarkable
book answers these questions, and more. Connor has written a most readable
book, a fascinating encounter of life in the sea.
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WHALES
- A CELEBRATION
Greg
Gatenby (Ed.)
Hardcover
large format, 231p, some colour plates.
"A
tribute to whales and dolphins" - in history, legends, prose and poetry,
art and song. Very interesting book.
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WHALES
AND DOLPHINS - CETACEAN WORLD GUIDE
Ralf
Kiefner.
An
Ikan publication.
Another
excellent title in the IKAN series of mrine books. This is th ‘bible' of
the cetaceans, a guide to some ninety-five species of the two suborders,
Mysticeti (Baleen Whales), and Odontocti (Toothed Whales). Includes, of
course, the Porpoises. And lkike all IKAN guides, there are some thirty-two
‘picture stories', covering the lighter side of Cetacean behaviour.Nedless
to say, strandings, illegal killings and environmental poisoning of whales
is detailed. I could see nothing on Monkey Mia, nor on the butchering of
dolphin in Japan - perhaps just as well. Hardcover, 305 pages, full
colour throughout, species index.
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WHALES
AND DOLPHINS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
An
Identification Guide.
Alan
N. Baker.
First
published in 1983 by Victoria University Press.
This
third edition by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1999.
Softcover,
132 pages, mono photographs and many drawings.
An
excellent concise book which readily identifies these magnificent creatures
through above-surface visualisation (particularly flukes) and blowing characteristics.
Commences with a natural historry, and includes distribution patters and
species notes.
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WHALES
AND DOLPHINS IN QUESTION
James
Mead and Joy Gold. Photographs by Flip Nicklin. .
A
Smithsonian book.
Softcover,
200 pags, excellen mono and colour photographs.
Many
of you have the excellent Sharks in Question book. This is This companion
book is also superb, with some two hundred relevent questions - such as
Do whales feel pain ?, How does mating occur, How do they remain buoyant
Do whales cry? ... a remarkable book of facts that I found hard to put
down.
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WHALES
AND DOLPHINS OF THE WORLD
Mark Simmonds.
Large format 330 x 250 mm,
full colour, 158 pages.
There are many books on
whales and dolphins but few have such excellent photography as this one.
Of extra large format, it is full colour throughout, and divided into five
sections: Who are the Whales and Dolphons, Life History and Strategies,
Man and Whale, Threats in a Changing World, Conservation Action of the
21st Century. This is not an identification book. It is about these magnificent
creatures and the world they live in, and into which we invade. An excellent
book for divers and anyone interest in the marine world. |
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WINGS
IN THE SEA - THE HUMPBACK WHALE
Lois
King Winn & Howard E. Winn.
University
of Phode Island. 1985
Softcover,
oblong format, 150p, mono photos and drawings.
A
most useful book covering the life and journeys of the whale, mating and
birth, and the unfortunate ‘man the hunter' and our role and interaction
with these magnificent creatures. Very useful and most readable. |
