Whales

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

David Jones’s passion for whales combined with the work of 17
professional photographers yields a spectacular book that’s both a
pleasure to read and stunning to view. Nearly every other page is a
large, if not full-page, color plate of extremely high-quality
photography. Both surface and underwater shots are present in abundance,
with an excellent range of species, behaviors, and moods captured by the
various photographers.

Jones’s enjoyable text includes intriguing details drawn from the
history of whaling, from the natural history of the various species, and
from human interaction with whales and dolphins. He uses comparisons to
help us comprehend the size and majesty of whales (“a mouth as big as
a garage”) and to place the statistical information in terms we can
relate to. The information is divided by whale type (toothed, baleen)
rather than by the usual grouping of species. This results in a nice
holistic approach, with information on habitat, behavior, feeding,
mating, migration, encounters with humans, vocalizations, and sonar
integrated into an appealing package.

The work fosters appreciation and awe, respect, and the desire to know
more. This coffee-table book is an outstanding achievement.