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    Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals
    Unavailable
    Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals
    Unavailable
    Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals
    Audiobook7 hours

    Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals

    Written by Nick Pyenson

    Narrated by Mike Grady

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. We have hunted them for thousands of years and scratched their icons into our mythologies. They simultaneously fill us with waves of terror, awe and affection – yet we know hardly anything about them.

    Whales tend to only enter our awareness when they die, struck by a ship or stranded in the surf. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-like creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and roam entire ocean basins. Yet despite centuries of observing whales, we know little about their evolutionary past.

    In this remarkable new book, the Smithsonian’s star palaeontologist Nick Pyenson takes us to the ends of the earth and to the cutting edge of whale research as he searches for the answers to some of our biggest questions about these graceful giants. His rich storytelling takes us deep inside the Smithsonian’s unparalleled fossil collection, to frigid Antarctic waters, and to the arid desert of Chile, where scientists race against time to document the largest fossil whalebone site on earth.

    Spying on Whales is an illuminating story of scientific discovery that brings readers closer to the most enigmatic and beloved animals of all time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateJun 26, 2018
    ISBN9780008244491
    Unavailable
    Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World’s Largest Animals

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    Reviews for Spying on Whales

    4/5

    62 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It left me with lots of questions and wanting to learn more which I think is the purpose of any science related memoir.
    • 3/5
      I hoped for something different from this book. Whales are so interesting, but this book was written in a way that made me forget that. Almost like this was a book about a man researching whales with tidbits about the history of whales and whaling sprinkled in. None of this was particularly engaging or cohesive , possibly because of my own false expectations. Whatever the case, this left me pretty underwhelmed.
    • 3/5
      Nick Pyenson make a daunting scientific topics approachable in this book that will tell you more about whales than you ever knew you wanted to know. Readers who enjoy science, well written non-fiction, and books about animal life should definitely give this one a try.
    • 5/5
      Nick Pyenson, the marine mammal curator at the Smithsonian, discusses whales, the focus of his academic study. Both recounting his own milestones in his academic career focusing on whales of the past and present, and also relating other information known (and not known) about whales, Pyenson's book was extremely interesting to me. I loved learning all sorts of things that I had never even thought to ask about whales and the ocean--I had no idea how much we (still!) don't know about whales--and I really enjoyed it. I found the book really engaging, and it also made me aware of possible repercussions of climate change (on marine ecosystems) that I hadn't ever considered before.I listened to this on my commute over the past few weeks, so one thing that I didn't mind (and actually really enjoyed) about this book was that it didn't have a super clear narrative--it felt much more like an old friend telling you about their interests, which worked really well for how I read this book. As with many of the books that I've been reading lately, I picked this up on a complete whim when I found it in the library catalog, and I'm so happy that I did. It was a super interesting dive into a world that I know little about, and it definitely has made me want to read more about the ocean.
    • 5/5
      Learned a lot about whale biology and evolution as well as the unique challenges facing those who devote their lives to studying them. I particularly enjoyed the discussion about animal culture, species-specific anatomy, and language dialects. The woodcut illustrations were a nice addition. Some photographs of Cerro Ballena dig site and/or the whaling ships, etc, would have been interesting to see too.
    • 4/5
      An interesting and informative read for those that appreciate the natural world, and pertinent to our futures.
      Written with the perspective of a paleontologist, one can see the depth in natural world awareness.
    • 4/5
      So many whale facts! I'd say this was maybe a 3.5 star read for me, but I haven't looked at the book yet to see the art, and I am very curious about that.
    • 4/5
      Nick Pyenson studies whales--all cetaceans, in fact. Whales include the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth. We've interacted with them for much of our history.But because they spend most of their lives underwater, and mostly don't have any regular need to be close to shore, we know surprisingly little about them. Which whales have the most oil or blubber is important for whale hunters, but not exactly a deep scientific insight, taken by itself. It doesn't tell us anything about how whales evolved, where they are and what they're doing in the great majority of their time that isn't spent anywhere near humans, or what their likely future in a changing world may be. Nick Pyenson has spent his professional life trying to answer those questions.This is the story of that research and what he and other scientists have learned.Pyenson reads his own book in a lively, enthusiastic, and clear voice that's easy to listen to. His passion for his subject comes through, and he's got really interesting material to work with.His first section is about the cetacean past--how whales arose from four-legged, somewhat dog-like land animals, by stages, from fully land-dwelling animals, to animals spending a lot of time in the water but still mostly land-dwelling, to water-dwelling animals who gave birth on land, to animals that still had vestigial legs which clearly could not have supported them on land, to the current variety of fully aquatic whales and dolphins. A significant part of this research involves a fossil bed in Chile that has the largest and most complete fossil remains of extinct species of whales, deposited in at least four separate episodes, possibly due to toxic algal blooms (i.e., "red tide.") One of the small, interesting details from this section is that whales' closest living relatives appear to be hippos.The second section is about currently living whale species, what we know and don't know, and how we are still learning the basics of internal whale anatomy and the differences to be found in the different varieties of whales. This includes discovery of previously unsuspected structures in the jaws and chins of different varieties of filter-feeding whales. Gathering some of this data included reluctantly joining a whaling expedition, not something he was pleased to do, but a rare opportunity to examine internal anatomical details on whales that haven't already begun to decay.The final section considers the possible future of cetacean species in a changing global environment--which species are recovering from past depredations and which aren't, which seem to be adapting to the changes we're living through now, and which seem to be struggling, or losing the battle. There are some very impressive successes.All in all, it's both a fascinating book, and a good listen.Recommended.I bought this audiobook.
    • 5/5
      Spying on WhalesNick PyensonA very well written and engaging book by a paleontologist expert in baleen whales, covering his work on finds in the Atacama desert in Chile, and describing the life cycles of some whale species. I started this after our Alaska cruise, when we saw orcas and humpbacks in the wild. Although working as a paleontologist at the Smithsonian, Pyenson is also experienced in living whale species, having dissected whale jaws on Norwegian whaling stations, and describes the feeding behavior of rorqual whales, speculating on the reasons for there large size. He also reviews the history of south sea whaling, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. I was not aware of the scale of this operation, and of the massive changes in the whale population caused by hunting. He makes some points about the ecological consequences of whaling, but just seems more fascinated by his subject than interested in making an environmental point.
    • 3/5
      A fascinating look at the past, present, and future of the largest creatures on earth. I loved learning more about them, but the writing is a bit disjointed and hard to follow.
    • 4/5
      Nick Pyenson is a paleontologist who studies extinct whales (fossil whale bones). He works for the Smithsonian Institution where they have the world's largest collection of whale bones stored in a nondescript tin-roofed warehouse in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Whales are an exercise in superlatives. Blue whales are the largest animals to ever exist on Earth (bigger than dinosaurs) and they happen to be alive today. Bowhead whales are the oldest mammals some over 200 years old. Porpoises are notoriously smart, probably smarter than chimps making them the next smartest animals on Earth behind humans. It's possible Sperm whales (of Moby-Dick variety) are the smartest of all but so alien and live so deep we can't even understand how smart they might be. On it goes. Pyenson describes various field expeditions to South America, Alaska, Iceland digging up whale bones and even partaking in a whale hunt. Much has already been learned so even the smallest new discoveries seem major. Pyenson is at his best, and worst, talking about himself. The book is not too long and gives a glimpse into the world of whale studies.
    • 5/5
      I grew up very close to Mystic, Connecticut, a historic 19th century whaling port. It’s a sad association, though I was fascinated with its history, and the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan moored at the museum. As I grew more aware in my teen years (do note, long before an internet), the horror of what humans did in decimating whale populations scarred my intellect forever. This book speaks to my heart. And at times, tears it. Especially when Pyenson shared how old whales can live and the age at death of two that were killed (spoiler that I'll save for the end...)Pyenson is a paleontologist and breaks his book into three obvious parts: Past, Present and Future. I've read a bit on paleontology and fossils over the past 48 or so years, but not much on whale fossils and whale evolution. I think better than other authors I've read, Pyenson explains the forensics and deduction in piecing together fossils, identifying common species characteristics and new species. He talks about some fascinating techniques in scanning and 3D printing of fossils so that paleontologists can manipulate and study skeletons without damaging the real fossils. As with much of the fossil record, there are large gaps, but that there are whale fossils at all is fascinating. Pyenson talks a bit on different extinct families of whale ancestors.Modern telemetric tagging with special suction cups yields tremendous data on movements, feeding, and so much more. Scientists learned that Cuvier's beaked whales can dive to an astonishing 2,992 meters while holding breaths for more than 137 minutes while foraging for squid and fish. While whaling is abhorrent to any rational human, it is still a fact in places like Iceland, though with severe restrictions compared to early twentieth century butchery. And as it is a fact, scientists use the opportunity to access anatomical data they otherwise would not be able to have. and the data reveal some answers to the evolution of echolocation, baleen, gigantism and more. And as for intelligence, When we chart the ration of brain size to body size - a metric called the encephalization quotient, or EQ— we have a way of quantifying the fact that dolphins are indeed very brainy. While baleen whales and river dolphins plot closer to primates, oceanic dolphins— including killer whales— plot higher than every other mammal except us, slotting in second behind humans, but ahead of chimpanzees.Hunting methods and social behavior emphasize a degree of intelligence, and many species have exhibited deliberate culture passed on not through genetics, but (and Pyenson doesn't use this term) through memetics.Whale depletion forced killer whales to change their feeding from larger whales to walruses and seals, and then down to sea otters. As Pyenson notes "[l]iving at the top of the food web for decades alson means continual exposure to and concentration of any persistent poisons in your diet." Kile whales have "some of the most contaminated tissue of any mammal on the planet, carrying high loads of chemicals such as flame retardants and complex organic molecules, which resist rapid decomposition." We did that. And few people know of it.On the future, with the limits on whale hunting, many species populations have increased, and some, while no longer on an endangered list, have only stabilized. One rare positive effect of anthropogenic global warming might be that, barring human predation, some whales might thrive more as the food columns of the Arctic might bloom do to the increased heat of the ocean. The slaughter of millions of whales in the early twentieth century had devastating effects not only on whale populations but huge oceanic ecosystems. "Whale poop" feeds the lowest tiers of phyto- and zooplankton, which are significant for Of course, the carbon dioxide levels in the oceans will increase its acidity, which will have far more far-reaching detrimental effects, but for a brief period, maybe some whale species might rebound further. The toxins in those orcas would probably increase to deadly levels, so the positives are few.On the book itself, the notes section is nearly as long as the main text - and in that form I really dislike: no reference in the text; a leading sentence fragment of the paragraph supported. I guess I am too old school; I want to know when a cite is made so I can choose to follow it. I so much dislike stumbling across them at the end, with only a tacit connection to what I read. I do not want to go back after I’m done. Even for books as good as this. I understand the purpose of not interrupting a flow, but it does a grave disservice to anyone actually thinking about what the author is writing. End notes, at least. Please.Something about huge mammals, I guess - I also love elephants. I’ve been on whale watching tours, but have only seen their smaller cousins (which are still whales). Someday. Sigh.Now ...SPOILER ... in 1992 a fifty-one-foot-long female bowhead whale was killed off Barrow. Once the blubber was stripped, scientists discovered an old injury in the shoulder and investigating further, discovered a stone harpoon lodged deep in the bowhead's body. Stone harpoons were last used in the 1880s. Considering that the whale must have been relatively mature at the time to survive such a strike, Craig [George] and his colleagues surmised that the whale, labeled 92B2, was at a minimum about 130 years old. When they later counted the pregnancy scars on her ovaries, the age that they calculated was completely consistent with a healed wound from the nineteenth century: 133.Here was a whale that had survived more than 130 years! But wait! There's more! Analyzing eye lenses for certain proteins that change over time at a consistent and known rate, but unlike other cells in the body, are not replaced over time, that same Craig George dated a 48 foot male killed in 1995 to be...211 years old. Here was a whale, older than the Constitution, tragically killed. A majestic creature, the longest lived mammal know, killed for I presume food. I am still stunned to learn how old they can live.
    • 4/5
      This is a good science book. It focuses on a few of the author's discoveries. For example, with collaborators, he worked on a massive whale graveyard in Chile, where dozens of rare complete skeletons were found, having been laid down in four different events—thought to be victims of poisonous algal blooms. He goes to Iceland and works in a whaling factory, where before the whales are stripped down he discovers a sac of nerves in the tip of the rorqual chin—thought to be important in opening the jaws for feeding. There are a fair number of interesting whale facts, but the book is not overly dense. Like good science it focuses more on the process of discovery, and on how we know what we know. There are vignettes of a scientist's life, some history of whales, whaling and the Smithsonian, lots of whale prehistory, and some speculation on the future (e.g., gray whales moving from the Pacific to the Atlantic [where they went extinct maybe 400 years ago, for unknown reasons], or orca populations with different food sources, like those specializing in salmon, diverging into separate species). The book is quite short. It is occasionally overwritten—a lot of sentences and paragraphs could be tightened up—but not badly so.