The Year of the Whale

The Year of the Whale
Victor B. Scheffer

This is another used bookstore find. The simplicity of the cover is what attracted me to this one. The silhouette of a whale set against the background of constellations is actually a repeated theme throughout the book. Each chapter (there are twelve, one for each month of the year) is begun with such an illustration.

The book follows the first year of life of a sperm whale calf, born in September. We learn of little calf's adventures and explorations in a world few have actually glimpsed and no human has truly experienced.

Interspersed throughout each chapter are interesting scientific tidbits, historical anecdotes, and information on the whaling industry, which, at the time of the writing of the book, was an actual industry. The Year of the Whale does show its age. Certain scientific studies were still experimenting with what we know today to be fact. The author sometimes poses questions to the reader that have now been answered. Truth be told, it is a bit chilling to read about the whaling industry and its factory ships and explosive harpoons. I am glad that some of the author's dire predictions of hunting to extinction have not come to pass (though we are still too much too careless).

All in all, this was a good read. The author gives incredible insight into the life of a mysterious creature. I cannot imagine the amount of research it took to write this, then the imagination it took to fill in the gaps. While more up-to-date books on the subject have been since written, this book is still a good story.

-Kinda Chewy