Guardians of the Whales: The Quest to Study Whales in the Wild

Bev Eastman is a high-school biology and general science teacher in
Chatham, Ontario.

This easy-to-read book would appeal to a wide audience. It begins,
appropriately enough, with a tribute to Michael Bigg, whom the authors
held in high esteem not only for his knowledge of killer whales, but for
his vision and conviction.

The authors present three groups—killer whales; Pacific gray whales;
and humpbacks, minkes, and miscellany—pointing out their differences
in terms of structural and behavioral features. Obee’s research was
conducted in the Pacific, from California to Alaska.

Readers are treated to the excitement of being whale-watchers as they
experience one escapade after another. They hear the noise whales make
as recorded on the hydrophone, and see the vivid details captured in
Ellis’s photographs (scattered throughout the book). As the authors
point out in the epilogue, we need to look beyond the animals to the
habitat, to place the whale and human in perspective so that both can
co-exist and flourish.