Just Finished Reading: Fathoms – The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs (FP: 2020) [326pp] 

It all started with a beached whale. After repeated attempts to return it to the sea it finally died a long way from home crushed under its own weight and cooked by its own internal temperature. The question uppermost on everyone’s mind was: why? What causes a whale, and sometimes multiple whales, to do that? As with any inquiring mind one thing led to another and, finally, to this award nominated book. 

Whale beaching have happened throughout recorded history but appear to be happening more often in the modern age. Various theories abound, as always, including pollution – chemicals such as pesticides, the ubiquitous plastic in all its many forms and, of course, noise – as well as the more exotic idea that whale navigation can be disrupted by subtle changes in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by Solar storms. But despite being a (comparatively recent) ‘charismatic animal’ and one of the icons of the Environmental movement its surprising how little we still know about whales in general and individual species in particular. Until very recently our ‘knowledge’ of cetaceans depended on the less than neutral observations of whalers – both old and modern – and somewhat scientific experiments undertaken by various navies, at large waterparks and aquariums with small numbers of the smaller whales and dolphins. Only in the last few years have larger, harder to find and harder to track, creatures been tagged, filmed and examined in any detail in their natural environments. There is still MUCH to learn. 

Written by a non-scientist this is often a quite chatty book about a subject the author is clearly passionate about. But this in no way diminished either my interest in or enjoyment of the contents of her book. Not only did she do her research (properly!) but talked to scientists, whale watching guides, environmentalists, and even Japanese whalers! The reader is introduced, using a rather scattershot narrative, to just about every aspect of the whale that you can think of from its ‘use’ in the early Industrial age to the change in attitude of the public – most notably after the wide release of recorded whale ‘song’ - to conservation efforts and beyond. Slowly we are uncovering where whales fit into the oceanic ecology and their place in moving nutrients around the world.  

Of the three books I read recently about whales – yes, two more to come – I'm glad I read this one first because of its lack of laser-like focus on any one particular aspect. Not only did this allow me to refresh any already existing knowledge but it also gave me a broad understanding of topics I’d be diving into somewhat deeper in the other books. If you’re interested in these majestic creatures at all and have wondered about them in any way, then this is definitely the book for you. Deeper dives to come. Recommended. 

[Highest page count of the year so far: 326pp][+7pp]