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The Great Sperm Whale: A Natural History of the Ocean's Most Magnificent and Mysterious Creature, by Richard Ellis
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Over the past several decades, Richard Ellis has produced a remarkable body of work that has been called "magnificent" (Washington Post Book World), "masterful" (Scientific American), "magical" (Men's Journal), and a "dazzling tour de force" (Christian Science Monitor). Ellis's new book—a fascinating tour through the world of the sperm whale—will surely inspire more such praise for the author heralded by Publisher Weekly as "America's foremost writer on marine research."
Written with Ellis's deep knowledge and trademark passion, verve, and wit—and illustrated with a wide array of images including his own signature artwork—his study covers the full spectrum of the sperm whale's existence from its prehistoric past to its current endangered existence. Ellis, as no one else can, illuminates the iconic impact of Physeter macrocephalus ("big-headed blower") on our history, environment, and culture, with a substantial nod to Herman Melville and Moby-Dick, the great novel that put the sperm whale (and whaling) on the literary map.
Ranging far and wide, Ellis covers the sperm whale's evolution, ecology, biology, anatomy, behavior, social organization, intelligence, communications, migrations, diet, and breeding. He also devotes considerable space to the whale's hunting prowess, including its clashes with the giant squid, and to the history of the whaling industry that decimated its numbers during the last two centuries. He even includes a story about a beached juvenile he helped rescue, an event that provided scientists with one of their first opportunities to observe a sperm whale in the water and up close.
Offering a rich tapestry for anyone with an interest in the marvels of ocean life, Ellis's book provides an indispensable guide to the life and times of one of the planet's most intelligent, elusive, and endangered species.
- Sales Rank: #271712 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Univ Pr of Kansas
- Published on: 2011-04-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 10.12" h x 1.34" w x 7.46" l, 2.16 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 384 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
"Ellis is fun to read, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic." --Washington Post Book World
"Richard Ellis is a graceful writer who's written some of the best natural history books of the past decade." --New York Times Book Review
From the Back Cover
"The most mysterious of all mammals is richly chronicled in this mesmerizing voyage that includes battles with whaleboats and giant squid. Ellis's rigorous scientific insights are matched only by his eloquent plea for this magnificent creature's future."--Dick Russell, author of Eye of the Whale
"Ellis's superbly researched and illustrated new book reveals strange new aspects of this most beguiling animal."--Hal Whitehead, author of Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean
About the Author
Richard Ellis is completing his Ph.D. in political science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Most helpful customer reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
The Post-Script to Moby-Dick
By R. E. Tenney
Richard Elllis is right: the Sperm Whale is an enigma.
It's 2011, and we still don't know how Sperm Whales hunt and capture their prey. Scientist can infer that this animal can dive down to 10,000 ft, but how can a slow moving whale catch a squid that moves through the water like a bullet? We can't account for his strange shape; unlike other cetaceans, the Sperm Whale is about as streamlined for aquadynamics as a potato. We cannot account for much of its evolution. We know Sperm Wales are intelligent, but do they have language? Do they have culture?
In 1851, Melville praise the Sperm Whale as a greatest animal because he is shrouded in mystery. Look at him from any perspective, and you still never get the entire idea of him. Richard Ellis brings us up to date on the science of the Sperm Whale, but there are just as many questions today as in the 19th Century.
(Regarding Moby-Dick, it seems this book has become the exclusive domain of English Departments, but I'm not so sure Critical or Feminist or Deconstructionist Theory is the appropriate way to respond to Melville's masterpiece. "The Great Sperm Whale" feels to me much closer to the spirit of Moby-Dick than any critical material I have encountered.)
Here's what we do know about the Sperm Whale: no mammal can dive so deep for so long. The Sperm Whale has the largest brain in the history of this planet. Archeologists were dumbfounded to discover the great Tyrannosaurus Rex with a head 52 inches in length; the Sperm Whale's head measures 20 feet! The Sperm Whale is the largest predator ever (the Blue Whale Ellis does not count as a predator, because it hardly 'hunts' krill; rather, it's feeding more resembles grazing).
I came to this book because of my passion for Moby-Dick, which takes up much of Ellis' analysis. In fact, this book feels like a long, beautiful post-script to The Great American Novel. You got the whaling lore, the (loosely pieced-together) evolution of the Sperm Whale, the glorious business of whaling in the 19th Century, the relentless hunt of the 20th which drove the animal to endangered status, their social lives, their incredible (yet untestable) intelligence.
And the paintings and illustrations! I don't know how to categorize Ellis: is he a great artist who knows how to write or a great writer who knows how to paint?
If you come to this book from a passion for Moby-Dick, like I did, you'll love it. If you were one of those kids that wanted to become a marine biologist when they grew up (I swear they were half of my kindergarten class), you'll love this book, too.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
" The Great Sperm Whale "
By Lee
This is the book that I have been waiting for , for 50 years . As I kept my childhood facination with whales and over the years have read most everything that could be found . I have enjoyed reading Hal Whitehead , the journey of Nelson Haley and the novels of Hank Searls and Herman Melville . But this book is special . It is an easy reading , thourghly researched book , covering all facets of the most amazing of all creatures . The only question that was not addressed , that I still wonder about is why is the whale's skin wrinkled like a prune ? There must be a very good reason for it . But neither this nor any other book I have read , has speculated on its purpose . I highly recomend the book . It is the number one book on the subject , at this time ......Lee H.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
A great biography of an astounding creature
By Matthew A. Bille
Herman Melville said of the sperm whale, "His is an unwritten life." Not anymore.
I'm a longtime fan of Ellis' work, so it was no surprise I loved this entry in his works on marine life. I'd read a great deal on this animal, including Ellis' own earlier books, but I had no idea just how bizarre Physeter macrocephalus really is. It has countless features (like the single forward spout) that don't appear in other whales, and a nose/spermaceti organ so remarkably weird it belongs on a creature from another planet. It wasn't until the last decade that scientists gave credence to the startling fact that sperm whales hunt squid in darkness by finding and then stunning them with sound. The sperm's evolution is very well traced, showing many transitional forms (including the fearsome Livyatan melvillei), but there is still a lot we don't know about how this animal came to be so unique.
As always with an Ellis book, this one is a mini-reference library, with a bibliography running 23 pages. Also as always, Ellis' own drawings and paintings bring the whale to life in a way the photographic record (which was sparse until remarkably recently) can't quite capture. (Ellis' postscript on how one paints a whale mural is fascinating "bonus footage" that comes with the book.)
Everyone is curious about how big the whale gets. Ellis rejects the idea that bull sperms were historically larger than the 62-foot modern record, but he admits that a pair of 11-inch teeth in a museum (8 inches is big) make one wonder just what the all-time record was. Ellis does not mention one oddity, the old reports of aberrant sperm whales with true dorsal fins - these may be in error, but I would have liked Ellis' analysis.
I would reduce the rating to 4.5 stars on a couple of minor flaws - the occcasional wrong word has slipped through editing, and there is some repetition. Ellis gives Charles Townsend's estimate of the casualties of New England Yankee whaling on page 238, but doesn't point out it's drastically wrong until page 291.
The sperm whale really is, as Ellis says, "The ocean's most magnificent and mysterious creature." Pick up this remarkable book and meet the monarch of the seas.
Matt Bille, author, Shadows of Existence: Discoveries and Speculations in Zoology (for which Richard Ellis kindly proofed the chapters on cetaceans). (Hancock, 2006)
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