Eye of the Whale : Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia

Rating:
Summary: An epic tale about whales
Review: A keen and passionate anthropological-natural history of the gray whale, twinned with a portrait of the whale's great nemesis-turned-admirer, from environmental journalist Russell (The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1992, etc.). Known to whalers as the devil-fish for its fiercely protective behavior when with its young, the gray whale has been brought back from endangered numbers by a ban on its hunting. But habitat destruction can do as easily what over-hunting once nearly accomplished, and much of Russell's account is concerned with the fight over protecting Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon (the whale's critical calving area) from development into a saltworks. Russell also tells the story of whaling captain Charles Melville Scammon, who hunted the gray with remarkable zest and success (he could fill his oil barrels in 8 months when other captains took 4 years), but who also took great interest in studying his quarry-to the point where he abandoned whaling and wrote an important book on marine mammals. That work is still referred to in gray-whale research, which says something about how little of the whale's behavior is understood, notes Russell. The author tries for a reporter's balanced approach in his far-flung reports on the gray, dispatched from everywhere along the wide arc starting in Baja California and moving up the US and Canadian coastlines, then sweeping across the Bering and Chukchi Seas to the Russian Far East. He covers controversial Native American whale hunts, and he writes about the hunting of the tiny western gray population along Sakhalin Island by indigenous people in a way that makes the take acceptable. It's a big story and there is much more: on the whale's history and choral repertoire and anecdotes aplenty from countless days afield talking with folks for whom the whale is an ever-recurring event. Anyone who's been held rapt in a whale's presence will find this a delight-and those who haven't will find it an inspiration.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent chronicle and tribute to the Gray Whale
Review: Dick Russell has produced an amazing chronicle of the life of the California Gray whale. This is a book that is not only important today but will hold a place of value and respect hundreds of years into the future. Sadly this book may most likely survive the species itself.
I have spent over two decades studying and working to protect the Gray whale and I've lead four major conservation expeditons to protect the species. The first was in 1981 to Siberia, the 2nd and 3rd to Neah Bay in 98 and 99 to oppose the Makah whale hunt and the 4th to San Ignacio in 2000 to oppose the development of an industrial salt processing scheme that would have damaged the breeding and calving homes of the Grays.
Dick Russell got all the facts right in the areas that I have intimate involvement with so I can safely assume that his facts in all other areas are equally investigated and thus correct.
This is a wonderful story and it is a great work of historical documentation both natural,social and cultural.
My life was changed by looking into the eye of a whale in 1975. I believe that Dick also caught a glimpse of the mystery, the majesty, the magic and the marvel of the mind of the whale reflected from the eye of one of these great and gentle giants.
For only a person who has seen into the eye of a whale could have written such an insightful book.
I intend to buy a dozen of Dick Russell's books for Christmas presents this year.

Rating:
Summary: The Great Chain of Being
Review: Dick Russell, a distinguished environmental writer and activist, intimately involved in struggles to preserve and protect the ocean and the creatures in it, has written a definitive book on the Gray whale and, as what we almost have to assume is an intended byproduct, a story which, like all good stories, transcends itself and links us to something even greater. Starting with an immediate report of his travels with his family to San Ignacio lagoon in Baja California to actually meet these superlative beings in their natural habitat, the story opens up dimensionally in both space and time. In time, the story reaches back to Charles Scammon, a mid-nineteenth century whaler who, contrary to Fitzgerald, has a life in two very distinct acts: the first in a career as one of the most rapacious hunters of the Gray whale in America and second, through a kind of transubstantiation of desire, to an observer and documentarian who raises his studies to nearly a form of worship. In space, Russell charts his travels across close to a quarter of the planet which encompasses the range of both the Eastern and Western Gray whale, finding again, connections to every type of life from the immediate relationship of the whales with indigenous people from Alsaka to Russia to the most sophisticated tracking and observational work done using the most sensitive tools our technological civilization makes available. It's a tapestry woven broadly and includes threats overcome, like the defeat of Mitsubishi's proposed saltworks in San Ignacio Lagoon, to threats unknown, such as the inter-related story of global warming, climate change and its effects on the entire web of life on the planet. There is something numinous at the heart of this tale, something that perhaps the whales have been waiting patiently for all this time. That we could come together, meet, look into each other's eyes and affirm the holy each to the other of our shared life on this planet. It is a tale worth telling and Russell has done it beautifully.

Rating:
Summary: This is the one to read!
Review: For a truly remarkable experience, you must read this book!

Mr. Russell has done exhaustive research, combined with his obvious talent, to create an epic that will define the world of the California gray whale for years to come.

While opening your eyes to the life the gray whale, you will also- for the first time in print- discover the truth behind the Makah tribe's whale hunt.

A highly recommended book- this will be the crowning jewel in your library for a very long time. For many years hence, this book will be THE defining work on the California gray whale.

Rating:
Summary: A gift for the California gray whale!
Review: If you believe the whales have been saved, you're sadly mistaken. Charles Scammon was an early whaler who discovered the gray whales' favored birthing spots in Baja's lagoons. This discovery led to a massive slaughter, nearly running them into extinction. Scammon was also a great naturalist who, after quitting whaling, published many fine writings. In Dick Russell's book, one has the opportunity to examine this ancient animal's past through Scammon's eyes as well as to learn the very newest information, which is not all good. Some scientists hoard their knowledge, some people who consider themselves experts are sorely out of date. New behavior we, and others, have documented has wanted for a holding vessel, a place to share this knowledge with the world. That is what Eye of the Whale is and it is spectacular. We spend our days with whales and so our knowledge comes with salt spray and sunburn. I would be surprised if, upon completion of this epic "vessel," you didn't find yourself tasting the salt and squinting from the sunlight reflected off sparkling waters. It IS that good.

Rating:
Summary: "That immense...intense and impeccable eye"
Review: Staring into THE EYE OF THE WHALE certainly seems to be a mystical experience. Unfortunately on the whale watching trips I've been on you get no closer to the whales than the deck of the ship. Not close up and personal (sometimes even rubbing and patting the "friendly whales")as is the case in Baja, California, with watching the Gray whales from small Zodiac boats. Perhaps you are like me then and (unlike the author) know nothing about the metaphysical powers of whales and their ability to bring about meditative and contemplative states in mankind while imparting transcendental wisdom. This book is therefore equal parts a journey of self discovery by the author and a natural history and scientific discourse on the Pacific Gray whale. For my liking there are just a few too many experiences here such as this one by a marine biologist: "It was a calf and I could see its eye looking into my eyes...I knew we were talking..." Mr Spock mind-melds with Gracie the Humpback a la STAR TREK: THE VOYAGE HOME.

Although the author and others see "whales smile by my fingertips" and get all "misty eyed" and believe that the whales are "trying to save us from our human side" these sentimental and lyrical asides are simply a matter of writing style. Overall they do not spoil the book. There is sufficient science and history here to satisfy those looking for something other than a "save the whales / save the world" soft-sell. The defeat of Mitsubishi's proposed salt-works at one of the whale breeding lagoons and the story of Charles Melville Scammon are themes that run throughout the book. Mitsubishi represents the modern day commercial threat to the whales while Scammon was an old-time whale-butchering sea captain. Scammons' conversion from hunter to benefactor (he ended up writing the definitive book on gray whales) is a tale well told. Perhaps, like the author, he too looked into the EYE OF THE WHALE.

"Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Rating:
Summary: Not Just Whales, But Humans
Review: _Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia_ (Simon and
Schuster) by Dick Russell is a brilliant and comprehensive account not
so much about the gray whale, but about how the humans and whales have
interacted over the centuries, and especially in the past few
decades. It is hard to imagine that there is any aspect of this
subject that Russell has not covered. The truly amazing part of the
gray whale�s story is that it had a terrible reputation in the
whaler�s day. It was called a devilfish, and was viewed as a
dangerous quarry, especially when it was protecting its young. It had
to be approached with fear (and this was realized in the Japanese
fisheries as well). It is a devilfish no longer. No one knows why, but
sometime in the 1970s the behavior of the whales changed. Into the
lagoons of Baja, the whales go in the winter to mate and to deliver
calves. The whales started becoming interested in the humans that had
put out in their boats to see them. They presented themselves at the
surface, turning on their sides to point an eye up to look at the
humans that used to kill them for oil and meat, and for baleen to
stiffen their corsets. They seemed to enjoy being scratched and
touched. Individual whales, returning year after year, seemed to
spread the behavior, which has become the norm. They even nudge the
calves toward the boats to introduce the new arrivals into the
activity.

All the eastern Pacific gray whales come to Baja in an
annual migration from the Siberian-Alaskan waters where they feed. It
is a 13,000 mile round trip, the longest annual migration of any
mammal, and Russell has traveled the length of that migration, and
more, to interview almost everyone who has researched the gray whale
or campaigned on its behalf. The result is a multifaceted,
wide-ranging tale that takes in important stories about the
interaction of humans and grays. The Makah tribe in Washington resumed
whaling with a controversial kill in 1999, possibly of a whale that
thought they were friendly. They get support from the Japanese, who
want to bring whaling back in general. The area of lagoons where the
whales calve was in danger of becoming a giant salt production
facility; Russell covers the anguish and triumphs of the
environmentalists pitted against huge commercial and governmental
foes. The grays have made a comeback, but seem to be less healthy; we
don�t know if we can blame warming of the waters or other causes, as
research on the whales is only in the beginning stages.

Best of all,
though, is that the book is full of attempts to describe just what
happens between two species as they regard each other. "Once you get
a chance to see these whales," says one observer, I think it is a
natural reaction to fall in love with them. And to want to do the
utmost so this continues to be a place where they can come and feel
safe and secure." Another: "The mother was just lying there as if
she was watching the young one, and sometimes she came up and rocked
the front of the boat. I must say it was sometimes a little bit
frightening. But then when she came and looked at us, you were not
scared at all, just happy. I can't explain it." A crusty marine
scientist reaches out to touch a whale for the first time, and
although no one has ever seen him do it before, he starts weeping. It
is an overwhelming experience that no one who has had it ever
forgets. The whales seem to have many mysteries to tell us. They can
be thankful that their ambassador, Dick Russell, and his imposing,
full, and readable book, are bringing to us their story.







Rating:
Summary: Not Just Whales, But Humans
Review: _Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia_ (Simon andSchuster) by Dick Russell is a brilliant and comprehensive account notso much about the gray whale, but about how the humans and whales haveinteracted over the centuries, and especially in the past fewdecades. It is hard to imagine that there is any aspect of thissubject that Russell has not covered. The truly amazing part of thegray whale's story is that it had a terrible reputation in thewhaler's day. It was called a devilfish, and was viewed as adangerous quarry, especially when it was protecting its young. It hadto be approached with fear (and this was realized in the Japanesefisheries as well). It is a devilfish no longer. No one knows why, butsometime in the 1970s the behavior of the whales changed. Into thelagoons of Baja, the whales go in the winter to mate and to delivercalves. The whales started becoming interested in the humans that hadput out in their boats to see them. They presented themselves at thesurface, turning on their sides to point an eye up to look at thehumans that used to kill them for oil and meat, and for baleen tostiffen their corsets. They seemed to enjoy being scratched andtouched. Individual whales, returning year after year, seemed tospread the behavior, which has become the norm. They even nudge thecalves toward the boats to introduce the new arrivals into theactivity.

All the eastern Pacific gray whales come to Baja in anannual migration from the Siberian-Alaskan waters where they feed. Itis a 13,000 mile round trip, the longest annual migration of anymammal, and Russell has traveled the length of that migration, andmore, to interview almost everyone who has researched the gray whaleor campaigned on its behalf. The result is a multifaceted,wide-ranging tale that takes in important stories about theinteraction of humans and grays. The Makah tribe in Washington resumedwhaling with a controversial kill in 1999, possibly of a whale thatthought they were friendly. They get support from the Japanese, whowant to bring whaling back in general. The area of lagoons where thewhales calve was in danger of becoming a giant salt productionfacility; Russell covers the anguish and triumphs of theenvironmentalists pitted against huge commercial and governmentalfoes. The grays have made a comeback, but seem to be less healthy; wedon't know if we can blame warming of the waters or other causes, asresearch on the whales is only in the beginning stages.

Best of all,though, is that the book is full of attempts to describe just whathappens between two species as they regard each other. "Once you geta chance to see these whales," says one observer, I think it is anatural reaction to fall in love with them. And to want to do theutmost so this continues to be a place where they can come and feelsafe and secure." Another: "The mother was just lying there as ifshe was watching the young one, and sometimes she came up and rockedthe front of the boat. I must say it was sometimes a little bitfrightening. But then when she came and looked at us, you were notscared at all, just happy. I can't explain it." A crusty marinescientist reaches out to touch a whale for the first time, andalthough no one has ever seen him do it before, he starts weeping. Itis an overwhelming experience that no one who has had it everforgets. The whales seem to have many mysteries to tell us. They canbe thankful that their ambassador, Dick Russell, and his imposing,full, and readable book, are bringing to us their story.