Customer Reviews

Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean

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First things first: "Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean" is a marvellously written in-depth account of every aspect of the sperm whale. I just loved the enthusiasm with which mr. Whitehead has written it. His professionalism is undoubted and his academic level is very high. But above all: he can write!
Some background info on myself: I am Dutch, English is not my mother tongue. I graduated from university, so I am quite capable of reading academic texts. I love reading English and have read quite a lot of books in that wonderful language. I have recently become more interested in marine life in general and marine mammals in specific.
What makes "Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean" such a good book? I am not a marine mammal specialist, but I still considered the book quite readable. I admit it was not an easy read. Especially chapter 6 "Sperm Whale Societies", which is about concentrations, groups and social units, I thought very difficult and rather dry. The high level of references sometimes disturb the fluidity of the text. The book was very interesting and packed with information. In a fascinating way mr. Whitehead took me into the depths of the oceans along with these amazing animals. His level of writing is very academic, but his enthusiasm about these animals is reflected by almost each and every sentence. I highly recommend this book to all marine mammal enthusiasts.

A fine book by one of the elders , of Sperm Whale research . Along with Richard Ellis's " The Great Sperm Whale " , we have caught up with serious and popular , knowledge of this my favorite creature . Now I wish a film could be made , as was done to introduce Bart in the film " Bears ". A read that you will enjoy and making lying in bed before sleep that much more filled with wonder . For what are they doing with their huge brains and massive selves ? Thank you to the authors . ,,,,,Lee H .

As a great whalefan I bought this book with great expectations. But I was soon disappointed. The author deals with the subject in a very un-entertaining way. He comes up with a lot of diagrams, showing what whale said what sound at what island in 1987 and 1989. In another diagram we can see how long the sounds are at this and that islands waters in this or that year.
Unless you are a professor this is not fun at all. The only exiting chapter was the one, that about how spermwhales defend themselves against agressors.