War of the whales : a true story

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Horwitz, Joshua

Edition:

1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.

Physical Description:

426 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates ; illustrations, maps (on endpapers), portraits, photographs ; 25 cm.

Summary:

"The tale of a crusading attorney who stumbles on one of the U.S. Navy's best-kept secrets: a submarine detection system that floods entire ocean basins with high-intensity sound--and drives whales onto beaches. As Joel Reynolds launches a legal fight to expose and challenge the Navy program, marine biologist Ken Balcomb witnesses a mysterious mass stranding of whales near his research station in the Bahamas. Investigating this calamity, Balcomb is forced to choose between his conscience and an oath of secrecy he swore to the Navy in his youth"--

Contents:

Prologue -- Part 1. Stranded. The day the whales came ashore -- Castaways -- Taking heads -- The loneliness of the long-distance beachcomber -- In the silent service -- The stranding goes viral -- "Unusual morality event" -- Part 2. Acoustic storm. The lone rangers of the environment -- Joel Reynolds among the friendlies -- The whale coroner arrives -- Depth charges -- Beachside necropsy -- Cease and desist -- Acoustic storm -- The sonar that came in from the cold -- Heads that tell tales -- Part 3. The reluctant whistle-blower. A mind in the water -- The killer turned tame -- A call to conscience -- The dolphins that joined the Navy -- Mr. Balcomb goes to Washington -- The mermaid that got away -- In the valley of the whales -- Part 4. Whales v. Navy. God and country v. the whales -- "It is so ordered" -- Counterattack -- The admirals take charge -- The highest court in the land -- Endgame -- Epilogue.

Subject Term:

Whales -- Effect of sound on.

Sonar -- Environmental aspects.

Whales -- Stranding.

Whales -- Conservation.

Publication Information:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2014.

Subject:

Whales -- Effect of sound on.

Sonar -- Environmental aspects.

Whales -- Stranding.

Whales -- Conservation.

Reynolds, Joel

Balcomb, Kenneth C., 1940-

United States. Navy -- Environmental aspects.

U.S. Navy

United States. Department of the Navy. Navy

United States. Naval Establishment

United States. Navy Department. Navy

Asdic

Echo ranging

Sound navigation ranging

SAILS ISBN:

9781451645019

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	333.9 HOR 2014	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	333.9595 HORWITZ	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Winner of the 2015 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award: "Horwitz's dogged reporting...combined with crisp, cinematic writing, produces a powerful narrative.... He has written a book that is instructive and passionate and deserving a wide audience" (PEN Award Citation).

War of the Whales is the gripping tale of a crusading attorney who stumbles on one of the US Navy's best-kept secrets: a submarine detection system that floods entire ocean basins with high-intensity sound--and drives whales onto beaches. As Joel Reynolds launches a legal fight to expose and challenge the Navy program, marine biologist Ken Balcomb witnesses a mysterious mass stranding of whales near his research station in the Bahamas. Investigating this calamity, Balcomb is forced to choose between his conscience and an oath of secrecy he swore to the Navy in his youth.

When Balcomb and Reynolds team up to expose the truth behind an epidemic of mass strandings, the stage is set for an epic battle that pits admirals against activists, rogue submarines against weaponized dolphins, and national security against the need to safeguard the ocean environment. Waged in secret military labs and the nation's highest court, War of the Whales is a real-life thriller that combines the best of legal drama, natural history, and military intrigue.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In March of 2000, on Abaco Island in the Bahamas, a group of volunteers surrounded Ken Balcomb and his wife and research partner, Diana Claridge, eager to learn more about the Cuvier's and Blainville's beaked whales of the Great Bahama Canyon. Panic ensued as one of Balcomb's assistants delivered news of a stranded whale nearby. Although the volunteers were able to free this whale and push it back to deeper water, they learned of numerous strandings on several islands, and the mystery, along with Balcomb's quest to solve it, began. In this gripping detective tale, science writer Horowitz recreates a day-by-day account of the quest to find the reasons for the mass strandings; their discovery of the probable cause-the U.S. Navy's use of Low Frequency Active sonar; the Navy's resistance and cover-up of their use of sonar in the area; and the drawn-out struggles between Balcomb, Joel Reynolds of the National Resources Defence Council, and the Navy. In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that public interest lay in "securing the strongest military defense rather than in enforcing marine mammal protection," yet five years later continued research further solidified the position of various parties within the environmental movement that noise pollution poses grave threats to whales. Horowitz's riveting story illuminates the many challenges continuing to face environmentalists working with marine mammals. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Living Planet Books co-founder Horwitz chronicles an ongoing collision of epic proportions between the U.S. Navy, intent on protecting its submarine warfare program, and environmental activists, who fight to save whales from extinction.The author begins in March 2000, when, over several days, the largest multispecies whale stranding ever recorded occurred across 150 miles of beach in the Bahamas. Rescue efforts led by Ken Balcomb, a researcher who was conducting a census of whales in the area, were mostly unsuccessful, but he was able to preserve their bodies for later forensic examination. Having served as a naval sonar expert, Balcomb surmised that training exercises involving a top-secret Sound Surveillance System, developed during the Cold War to monitor Soviet nuclear submarines, were likely responsible. The use of high-decibel, low-frequency sonar signals by the Navy would have overwhelmed the whales' biosonar system and caused physiological damage as well. This was not the first such incident of whale strandings in the vicinity of naval exercisesnor, unfortunately, the last. The author reports on the battle led by Balcomb and Joel Reynoldsa senior lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Councilto force the release of the forensic evidence and the attempts by the Navys top brass to stonewall any serious investigation that could lead to curtailment of their activities.The battle led to a court ruling against the Navy for overriding environmental law. The Bush administration overturned the court decision by executive order on grounds of national security, and the NRDC countered legally, asking for a ruling on the administration's action. The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the administration was within its rights, but it opened the door for the requirement of comprehensive Environmental Impact Statements in advance of any future naval maneuvers.Based on years of interviews and research, Horwitz delivers a powerful, engrossing narrative that raises serious questions about the unchecked use of secrecy by the military to advance its institutional power. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Excerpts

War of the Whales 1 The Day the Whales Came Ashore DAY 1: MARCH 15, 2000, 7:45 A.M. Sandy Point, Abaco Island, the Bahamas Powered by his second cup of coffee, Ken Balcomb was motoring through his orientation speech for the Earthwatch Institute volunteers who had flown in the night before. The workday started early at Sandy Point, and Balcomb was eager to finish his spiel and head out onto the water before the sun got high and hot. "Take as many pictures as you like," he told them, "but leave the marine life in the ocean. Conches in the Bahamas are listed as a threatened species, so you can't take their shells home as souvenirs." After a breakfast of sliced papaya and peanut butter sandwiches, a dozen volunteers sprawled across the worn couches of the modest beachfront house that Balcomb rented with his wife and research partner, Diane Claridge. Here, on the underpopulated southwestern tip of Abaco, far from the posh resorts on the tiny Out Islands elsewhere in the Bahamas, the only tourist activity was bonefishing in the clear, bright shallows of the continental shelf. What the tourists rarely glimpsed, and what the volunteers had come to see, were the reclusive Cuvier's and Blainville's beaked whales of the Great Bahama Canyon. For the past 15 years, the Earthwatch volunteer program had provided the sole financial support for the decadelong photo-identification survey of the beaked whales here in the Bahamas and of the killer whales in the Pacific Northwest. The Earthlings, as Ken and Diane called them, traveled from across the United States and around the world to assist their survey and to catch a fleeting glance of the deepest-diving creatures in the ocean: the beaked whales that lived inside the underwater canyon offshore from Sandy Point. For the most part, they were altruistic tourists, from teenagers to golden-agers, looking for a useful vacation from the winter doldrums up north. At Sandy Point, they could learn a little about whales, lend a hand in a righteous eco-science project, and enjoy the Bahamian sunshine. Excerpted from War of the Whales: A True Story by Joshua Horwitz All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Cast of Characters	p. ix
A Note About Acronyms	p. xiii
Prologue	p. xvii
Part 1 Stranded
1 The Day the Whales Came Ashore	p. 3
2 Castaways	p. 14
3 Taking Heads	p. 24
4 The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Beachcomber	p. 34
5 In the Silent Service	p. 45
6 The Stranding Goes Viral	p. 56
7 "Unusual Mortality Event"	p. 68
Part 2 Acoustic Storm
8 The Lone Rangers of the Environment	p. 81
9 Joel Reynolds Among the Friendlies	p. 89
10 The Whale Coroner Arrives	p. 100
11 Depth Charges	p. 113
12 Beachside Necropsy	p. 126
13 Cease and Desist	p. 136
14 Acoustic Storm	p. 152
15 The Sonar That Came In from the Cold	p. 170
16 Heads That Tell Tales	p. 184
Part 3 The Reluctant Whistle-Blower
17 A Mind in the Water	p. 197
18 The Killer Turned Tame	p. 210
19 A Call to Conscience	p. 221
20 The Dolphins That Joined the Navy	p. 232
21 Mr. Balcomb Goes to Washington	p. 244
22 The Mermaid That Got Away	p. 256
23 In the Valley of the Whales	p. 269
Part 4 Whales V. Navy
24 God and Country v. the Whales	p. 283
25 "It Is So Ordered"	p. 295
26 Counterattack	p. 307
27 The Admirals Take Charge	p. 317
28 The Highest Court in the Land	p. 329
29 Endgame	p. 341
Epilogue	p. 349
Acknowledgments	p. 357
Illustration Credits	p. 361
Endnotes	p. 363
Author's Notes on Sources and Interviews	p. 385
Recommended Reading and Resources	p. 397
Index	p. 401

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Excerpts

Excerpts

Table of Contents