"Hoyt's passionate sense of kinship with orca makes his account effective as both a science and literature. He has chronicled his adventures and discoveries ...with grace, insight, wit--and a comprehensiveness that might satisfy even Herman Melville." (Discover Magazine)
Star performers in aquariums and marine parks, killer whales were once considered to be too dangerous to approach in the wild. Erich Hoyt and his colleagues spent seven summers following these intelligent and playful creatures in the waters off northern Vancouver Island, intent on dispelling the killer myth. Orca: The Whale Called Killer is Hoyt's exciting account of those summers of adventure and discovery, and the definitive, classic work on the orca or killer whale.
The Free Willy films, inspired in part by Hoyt's pioneering writing about orcas, tell the story of a captive orca being returned to the wild. (Hoyt, in fact, recommended Keiko, the orca who became the star of Free Willy, to Warner Bros.) But Orca: The Whale Called Killer tells the true story of wild orcas befriending humans.
An intensely personal account ... Scientific, political, and historical details are woven into a highly readable narrative ... Recommended. (Library Journal )
Superb ... A fine story of adventure ... One of the best nature books of the year. (Publishers Weekly )
There is nothing wildlife needs more urgently than truth... Hoyt tells the truth about the orca in his fascinating book. (Roger Caras ABC-TV News )
A well-compounded blend of close-up nature observation, scientific knowledge, and history. (Elizabeth N. Shor, Scripps Institute of Oceanography San Diego Union Tribune )
An enchanting story of adventure and discovery, one told with style, insight, charm and thoroughness. (Akron Beacon Journal )
I have never read a better book on whales, partly because Hoyt writes so well. (Philadelphia Inquirer )
Engaging picture ... Hoyt's style is easygoing and comfortable, and as well organized as it is informative. (Cleveland Plain Dealer )
A well-written, balanced account ... interspersed in the story are excellent summaries of our current knowledge. (Edward Mitchell, Arctic Biological Station [Canada] Canadian Geographic )
Monumental achievement...the best whale book in years. (Ronn Patterson Oceans )
Review
Erich Hoyt's book is a splendid introduction to one of the most fascinating and charismatic animals in the world. (Sir Peter Scott Founder, World Wildlife Fund )
I am an author of books on wildlife and science for adults and kids; I like to tell a story that hasn't been told using my own style of narrative nonfiction. I am also a researcher and lecturer (working in Japan, Russia and many other countries). I like exploring new frontiers, trying new things...I have been very fortunate to work with various dolphin and whale species in many countries, as well as ants in the tropical rain forest.
My first book, Orca: The Whale Called Killer, tells the story of seven summers I spent living among three big "families" or pods of killer whales (orcas) off northern Vancouver Island, Canada.
In Seasons of the Whale, I follow several known humpback, right and blue whales through a momentous year in their lives -- a true story of the year that the North Atlantic Ocean began to "talk back" to those who cared about it as well as those who didn't.
In The Earth Dwellers, I get down to a few centimeters off the ground and trace several years in the lives of a colony of leafcutter ants and the scientists who study them in Costa Rica. In alternative chapters, I weave the story of the ants and the story of the scientists -- two well known entomologists (insect scientists), EO Wilson from Harvard and Bill Brown from Cornell who trade arguments, jokes and banter in their pursuit of the big find.
I loved researching and writing Creatures of the Deep, with its literary, historical, mythical and actual journeys to the bottom of the sea as well as along the world's longest mountain range (underwater) and starting from the tiniest organisms up the long food chain to the top predators. It's a story of a dark, high pressure, unexplored world and bizarre, little known creatures that communicate by touch, flashing lights and who knows what else.
These books are for adults but variously enjoyed by young adults and older kids. I have also written four other books just for kids.
As a working scientist and conservationist, I also write scientific papers, reports and books such as Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. A world handbook for cetacean habitat conservation (Earthscan, London, 516pp, 2005). I am Senior Research Fellow with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission - Cetacean Specialist Group as well the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and the High Seas Task Force. I also help direct the Far East Russia Orca Project, a long-term project with Russian scientists to understand the killer whales in the vast Russian waters.
I enjoy giving talks and illustrated presentations. In the past few years, I have been invited to speak in the UK, France, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, the US, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Monaco, Argentina and Chile. I especially enjoyed working in Japan giving simulated whale watch presentations at the 2005 World Expo (theme: nature's wonders) and at the World Whale Watching Conference and the Symposium: New Tales about Whales in Science, Society & Art, at the UN University, Tokyo, Dec 2010. My other talks are about "my life with orcas", creating marine reserves, "from ants to whales", and the future of marine conservation, "creatures of the deep", and the best dolphin and whale watching around the world. I also give talks on writing popular science with a story: narrative nonfiction, and on preparing book proposals that sell.
Please see my web sites www.erichhoyt.com and www.cetaceanhabitat.org.
This review is from: Orca: The Whale Called Killer (Paperback)
This is my absolute favorite book on orcas. I have read it three times. I bought it years ago at the Vancouver Aquarium while visiting the whales in the area and never tire of re-reading it. One of the the things I like are the appendices which list data on the whales. I wish Erich Hoyt would write a second volume or update it again! If you love orcas you will love this book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsThe definitive book on orca...a must read!, February 19, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Orca: The Whale Called Killer (Paperback)
This is by far the best book on orca that is out there so far. Informative, enthralling and captivating. If you are not already an orca lover you will be after this...and you will want more...for Erich and friends to report the latest. I have read it three times...and continue to go back and re-read and highlight sections. This book also has appendix containing interesting info on captive whales all over the world. I just wish Hoyt would update soon!
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This review is from: Orca: The Whale Called Killer (Paperback)
I am an avid orca lover and this book was amazing. I was astonished by some of the stories I read. If you like orcas, you will love this book. It is very informational and quite entertaining. I highly reccommend this book.
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First Sentence:
I knew almost nothing about killer whales in June 1973 when I joined a sailing expedition along Canada's Pacific coast. " Read the first pageKey Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Johnstone Strait, Vancouver Island, Robson Bight, Top Notch, The Twins, Alert Bay, Sea World, Pedder Bay, British Columbia, Vancouver Aquarium, Telegraph Cove, Tsitika River, Blackfish Sound, Pender Harbour, Puget Sound, Northwest Coast, Moby Doll, Four Winds, Charlie Chin, Graeme Ellis, Michael Bigg, Long Beach, Paul Spong, Boat Bay, John Ford
New! Concordance
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