Customer Reviews

Beluga Days: Tracking a White Whale's Truths

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As has been noted elsewhere, this is a new kind of nature writing, where the beluga whales of Alaska share their realm with Caucasian and Native communities. It not only describes the existence of belugas in their habitat, but also how human society works to protect, and occasionally, fail to protect, the belugas. The author is unsentimental but sympathetic in describing all the players in this drama: sympathetic to the needs of Native societies, sympathetic to the well-intentioned staff of various state bureaus and NGOs trying to protect the beluga, and sympathetic in a non-anthrocentric way to the plight of the belugas. This is an entirely satisfying read with no obvious defects to detract from a 5 star rating.

Beluga Days takes an in-depth look at the plight of a distinct population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Plauged by over-hunting, these whales have fallen from a population of approximately one thousand animals in 1990 to an estimated two hundred fifty today. The book discusses the politics of regulating native hunting, the difficulties of getting the whales placed on the endangered species list, and the pros and cons of placing belugas in captivity. Lord herself is a salmon fishermman who is familiar with the Cook Inlet region and the ecosystem which exists there. She has observed the steady decline of the belugas from her own home and explores the reasons for their decline and the whales themselves in Beluga Days. Lord witnesses a native beluga hunt, helps perform research on the slaughtered whales, and spends getting to know the natives involved in the hunt and the importance of the beluga to their society. She also encounters belugas from places other than Alaska by visiting captive belugas in Chicago and going out on a research vessel to observe the ailing population of the St. Lawrence estuary in Quebec.
Lord has managed to write an extremely informative novel without making it too complex or "wordy," as is the case with many science and nature-based works. Her style of writing held my interest but still relayed information. I also appreciated the unbiased point of view from which she writes. Lord obviously wants the population to thrive once more in Cook Inlet, but she also understands the significance of native hunting and discusses different opinions on the best ways to save this population.
One thing about Beluga Days which I disliked was the monotony of its having such a finite subject matter. The majority of this novel discusses only one distinct population and the information starts to seem repetitive after reading for long periods of time. This makes Beluga Days a difficult novel to read in one sitting.
Although this book would not be of interest to everyone I would recommend it to anyone interested in cetaceans or nature in general. At some points it may be easier to comprehend with some previous knowledge of whales, but is written simply enough so that most people can appreciate it.

The author goes to great lengths, traveling great distances, to learn everything she can about the beluga whale. She begins at her own fishing camp watching dwindling numbers of the mystical marine mammal as it passes her section of Alaskan shore, and begins to wonder where the great pods have gone. She visits with many of the players in the beluga conservation-extinction battle, from National Marine Fisheries Service personnel to native hunters to everyone in between.

At times, it's hard to figure the author's position. Does she support the hunt for beluga whales, or does she want it stopped to save the species? Does she believe in the sanctity of native traditions, no matter what they are? And why does she tell us, not once, but twice that she "kills" salmon for a living? Is she unsure of how she really feels about the slaughter of a whale, even if it is for subsistence, especially in a place like a tiny Alaskan village where one dead whale puts food in the bellies of an entire community?

The author paints the picture of Alaskan life well, and reaches deeply into the natural history of the beluga whale. This book fills the bill for someone interested in the white whale's story, and shows just how many sides there are to the political struggle to keep an animal species alive.

Nancy Lord does a great job really opening your eyes to the dwindling numbers of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. These numbers have dropped drastically from about 1,000 in 1990, to a couple hundred currently recorded today. The reader is introduced to the everyday threats to the belugas and what is being done, and what isn't being done, to help them. She focused primarily on one population in Cook Inlet which I thought would be somewhat disappointing. Starting the book I was hoping to gain a better knowledge of many belugas around the world, but through reading the book I found that it was actually better to focus on the one species because they were easier to keep track of and study everyday. Lord, who lives in Alaska, has completely immersed herself in the lives of the Cook Inlet belugas and the relevant doings of politicians, environmentalists, scientists, and the native people who still have the right to hunt whales. Lord offers different perspectives on the situation and considers who shares the responsibility for the declining number of belugas. The book is full of her personal encounters with the beluga whales of Cook Inlet, and the way she writes about these animals makes you care for them as much as she does. She recognizes the fact that the native Alaskan people do have the right to hunt these whales, and shows a deep respect for it, but at the same time is trying to do what she can to protect them. Overall this book enlightens readers of the Cook Inlet belugas and how they are threatened on a daily basis. She shows how truly difficult it is for her and the others involved to protect and save these whales. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the Cook Inlet belugas specifically, and mammal conservation in general.

Beluga days is an extremely interesting book for anyone that is interested in the conservation of marine life or nature in general. The story follows author Nancy Lord and she takes many steps in gathering information and researching the Beluga whales of the Cook Inlet in Alaska. She goes into detail about the problems facing these belugas. The population has been decreasing rapidly as of late due to excess hunting and pollution. She also discusses the major contamination problem in the St.Lawrence river which is killing off many Belugas as well. However, much more emphasis is placed on the Cook Inlet whales.

I really enjoyed the way the book was written because if felt like i was learning about the situation along side Nancy Lord. The reader went along to meetings and different research projects concerning the matter. I also enjoyed learning about the political aspect of the issue. It was a very effective writing style.

Although i enjoyed the book thoroughly i wish that alittle more time could have been spent on the St.Lawrence belugas because I feel that the contamination of their waters is very important due to all of the dead belugas found to have high levels of toxins in their bodies.
Overall i thought it was a fun book to read and very informative.

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in marine animals and the current problems that are ruining the oceans.

This is a compelling documentary about the small population of beluga whales at Cook Inlet in Alaska. It delves deep into many research techniques and theories concerning the depletion of this population in more recent years. The reader follows, fisherman, Nancy Lord as she attends conventions, research vessels and other locations while she takes a closer look at Cook Inlet belugas. Emphasis is put on reasons for depletion, questioning of the current status of whales and action that can be taken to both educate people and save the whales.
Lord talks with native hunters and expert scientists at conferences in Alaska and learns that overhunting and contamination are major concerns to Cook Inlet belugas. She travels all over to talk to many scientists about their own thoughts and concerns. She is able to board a research vessel as scientists do population counts, captures and tagging. Lord balances her education with a more casual visit to observe captive belugas at a zoo for a closer look. She doesn't restrict herelf to Cook Inlet belugas though; she participates in research about the St. Lawrence belugas and the connections with contamination. All of these are some of the captivating experiences that shape Lord's understanding of what is being done to, hopefully, save the beluga's.
Lord's style of writing helps the reader to become educated right along with her. She asks questions that any person would be compelled to ask and it made the book all the easier to be drawn into. It is quite easy to read although some difficult words work their way in occasionally.
She does have a tendency to go back to previous concerns, making it repetitive at times. Usually it's about the controversy over whether or not native hunters are the beluga's largest threat.
Overall, it is an intriguing book and would probably be best for people interested in any sort of nature or marine topics. I would recommend it especially to those interested in what goes on behind the scenes as far as research, getting an animal listed for concern or beluga depletion in general.

Beluga Days is a terrific book about the Beluga Whale population in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The story tells how the population has decreased very significantly over the course of time, especially just recently. The book points out many reasons as to why the population has decreased and it is all due to human disregard. It tells of the Beluga Days, when the whales seemed over-populated, and people would kill them off like they meant nothing, but soon people began to realize the numbers were incredibly small and this could not be turned around. The book tells of the many uses of the Belugas and how they were viewed as predators to big-game fish, and these were originally why the whales were so popular to kill. Before too long the numbers had decreased so much and these beutiful creatures have not, and may not, ever recover. Lord
incorporates different historical events such as the ESA and the MMPA and this makes the book even more informative.

One thing, in particular, that I enjoyed was the style in which Lord wrote the book. At times in the book it seemed like Lord was interviewing major players in Beluga whale population in the Cook Inlet. The way the book starts is a great example as Lord talks to George Hayden, a former Beluga hunter from the Cook Inlet, and her conversations with Hayden lead to other stories of how the Belugas have changed over the course of time.

The novel never really touched on other populations of Belugas and this is the main thing that I disliked. I wish that Lord talked more about other Beluga populations in other regions around the Arctic besides the Cook Inlet. Even though much of the book was only about the Cook Inlet, Lord's writing ability made most of the reiterating of the same Beluga population to be tolerable and still interesting.

I would recommend this book to people who have any interest in marine mammal conservation. It was an interesting and enlightening read and I, a conservation novice, enjoyed the book thoroughly.