Troubled
Waters: The Changing Fortunes of Whales and Dolphins by Sarah
Lazarus. Hardcover book published by CSIRO Publishing 2006, 210
pages with some black and white photographs and illustrations as well
as a few colour photographs and one colour illustration.
I've
only ever gone to see whales the once. It was part of a 3 day
whirlwind trip around Victoria incorporating the Grampians for some
Grampian action and then down to Port Fairy and Warrnambool for some
Whale action. Whales are a bit fussy and only visit Warrnambool from
late May till August and my visit was timed early in the season to
accommodate the busy whale schedule with a week to spare... I sort of
figured it would be a good idea to watch whales when they were fresh
and not worn out by all the human watching.
Upon
arrival I thought it might be best to consult with the local tourism
office re the best spots for the perusal of whales as I felt fairly
sure that going down to the beach and staring at the ocean with no
point of reference regarding what were the best viewing spots, was
probably not a good idea. This was a fortuitous thing to do as I was
politely informed by the tourism advisor that they (the whales) were
running a bit late that particular year. Yes, what was to have been
the highlight of a quick jaunt around Victoria, ended up being a
bitter disappointment. To this day, I haven't seen a whale in the
wild. I would like to.
“Troubled
Waters: The Changing Fortunes of Whales and Dolphins” looks at the
relationship between humans and whales and dolphins over the last
1,000 years. Humans have appreciated whales and dolphins in many
different ways over time. A small amount of that time has been in a positive way and most
of it in not so positive a way. I have only appreciated them from
afar and only in a positive way. This book looks at the subject from
all angles and doesn't end with me walking away from the Warrnambool
tourist office head down, feeling sad. There is some hope...
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