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Summary: My second bible!
Review: I am a whale expert, but I wouldn't be were it not for this book. My copy is less than a year old, but it is already terribly battered because I read it so much. I can name almost every cetacean in it, and because of it, I have decided on my desired proffession-- A Cetaceanologist, or person that studies whales, dolphins, and porpoises. I feel this book is a must for whale lovers, and I hope that some day I can own more Eyewitness Handbooks. I love this book!
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Summary: Wow! Incredible book!
Review: I lead about a dozen pelagic (offshore) birding boat trips each year off the east coast of the U.S. In the process, I became very interested in identifying the whales and dolphins we were seeing. As a result, I needed to find a decent field guide.This book is the best field guide to cetaceans that I've seen yet. It does an excellent job of presenting known identification criteria as well as pitfalls. The pictures, measurements, and dive sequences provide a quick reference. The more in-depth text provides the further details needed to confirm an ID or sometimes to explain why your view of a specific animal keeps you from making a positive ID. This is the one cetacean field guide I recommend to trip participants.
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Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: I personally am in love with all marine mammals, so I have many books on the subject. This is a great one. It provides small but effective overview of each of the known species. Its a great book, i highly recommend it!
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Summary: If you like whales, you'll like this book
Review: If you want detailed information on whales, dolphins and porpoises layed out in a consistant, logical way with beautifully drawn, color images, this is the book for you. Some of the detailed information includes maps of where the animals typically range, a profile of their dive sequences for whale watchers and a comparison profile against a 6ft tall man. This is for each and every animal in the book and only part of the information included. This is a real gift to whale lovers and whale watchers everywhere. I can't really see anyone being dissapointed in a purchase of this book.
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Summary: useful but not perfect
Review: My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!
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Summary: Best visual field guide out there
Review: My title sums it up. This is the ultimate book to bring on a field trip to watch whales and dolphins. The illustrations are clear and crisp and would aid anyone (even an expert would have a need for such a book) in the identification of any species (and it covers all the known ceteceans).
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Summary: The Ultimate Cetacean Field Guide!
Review: This book clearly deserves more than five stars for the great joy it will make available to you in the future by encouraging you to do more cetacean watching. One of my pleasures is planning and taking trips to the various whale, dolphin, and porpoise rich areas in the world. When there, I spend as much time as possible on the water enjoying the views. I was particularly delighted to see that this book opens the doors to locales that I did not know about. As a result, I now have three times as many places to visit as I thought I did. Having seen the unusual species that I have missed, I now see the world much differently. That's a great gift to receive from a field guide. Most people are unaware of the fascinating and beautiful mammal life in the oceans and rivers (yes, some dolphins live in rivers) around them. Although I live near one of the world's best cetacean watching areas, I would estimate that fewer than five percent of the people I meet have ever gone to observe the wonderful sights that are just a few minutes offshore. This guide can help change all that. With a heightened sense of our aquatic co-species, I think that all people will have more respect for them and interest in preserving their habitats and populations. Many people have a chance to go boating on the ocean, and see something that interests them. What is it? How should they approach it? I hope that all ocean-going boaters will buy a copy of this book to address those questions. This is a beautiful book to hold and behold. The drawings are luscious in their subtlety of color and shape. As a way to identify cetaceans, I cannot imagine a handbook that could be any better. The book is filled with dozens of clues for each type from length, shape, coloration, presence of typical parasites, behavior, breathing patterns, and other physical characteristics (like the shape of the teeth or baleen, blowholes, tails, heads, etc.). With so many observational points to consider, it would be very unusual to make a mistake. So the casual cetacean watcher can quickly be able to perform like an expert. After you have finished enjoying this wonderful book, I suggest that you plan your next trip to watch cetaceans. If possible, I suggest going to some location that you have never been to before. Even if formal party boats are not available there, you can go out in the least expensive way and rely on your handbook to guide you into a better understanding of what you are seeing. Appreciate the natural grandeur and beauty of the cetaceans . . . always!
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Summary: Outstanding field guide
Review: This book is extremely useful to both the general reader and to those with a serious interest in cetaceans. The book is well organized for quick reference and beautifully illustrated to aid in species identification in the field. Cetaceans are grouped by family and unique characteristics are clearly defined and illustrated. In addition the book is lightweight and easily carried on a boat trip. Highly recommended.
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Summary: THE field guide on cetaceans to take on your travels
Review: This durably jacketed guide to all known cetaceans contains easy to use identification information and illustrations. This is THE take-along field guide to use if you are going whale watching or traveling anywhere you want to know about the whales, dolphins/ porpoises you are seeing, as well as some explanation of behaviors and how they live. We used it in Antarctica; it's field tested. José Kirchner
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Summary: User-friendly Guidebook
Review: This Eyewitness Handbook on whales, dolphins, and porpoises was extremely valuable during my recent trip to Baja Mexico to whale watch in the Sea of Cortez. The book provides a wealth of information on each species with specific descriptions and illustrations that are right on. We had two naturalists on board and they love the book too, so it's worthwhile no matter what your level of cetacean knowledge.
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