On August 8, 1970, the Southern Resident orcas of Puget Sound were herded into Penn Cove on Whidbey Island by explosives, spotter planes and speedboats in a coordinated effort to capture seven young whales. Between 1964 and 1976, dozens of these now-endangered orcas were torn from their home and sent to marine parks around the globe. Just over a decade later, all but one had died. This lone survivor is Tokitae, also known as Lolita, and she's spent most of her life performing at the Miami ...

A look at the history of the commercial capturing of orcas in Washington's Puget Sound, the whales taken, and the efforts to save them.In November, 2005, Washington's iconic killer whales, known as Southern Resident orcas, were placed on the endangered species list. It was a victory long overdue for a fragile population of fewer than one hundred whales. Author and certified marine naturalist Sandra Pollard traces the story and destinies of the many Southern Resident...

The New York Times –bestselling author of Evidence of Harm exposes the dark side of America's most beloved marine mammal park.Death at SeaWorld centers on the battle with the multimillion-dollar marine park industry over the controversial and even lethal ramifications of keeping killer whales in captivity. Following the story of marine biologist and animal advocate at ...

*Now a New York Times Best Seller*Over the course of two decades, John Hargrove worked with 20 different whales on two continents and at two of SeaWorld's U.S. facilities. For Hargrove, becoming an orca trainer fulfilled a childhood dream. However, as his experience with the whales deepened, Hargrove came to doubt that their needs could ever be met in captivity. When two fellow trainers were killed by orcas in marine parks, Hargrove decided that SeaWorld's...

Since the release of the documentary Blackfish in 2013, millions around the world have focused on the plight of the orca, the most profitable and controversial display animal in history. Yet, until now, no historical account has explained how we came to care about killer whales in the first place. Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ...

"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 summ...

A “warm, energetic memoir” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and an impassioned study of the profound connection between humans and whales, from an award-winning marine researcher“[Morton’s] descriptions of [the whales’] lives and their haunting underwater communications are so vivid that they will remain with you long after you have read the last eloquent page.”—JANE GOODALLONE OF THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR’S...

The definitive insider's account of the 2011 case of a Florida mother accused of killing her own daughter . . . and the verdict that shocked the nation.It was the trial that stunned America. On July 5, 2011, nearly three years after her initial arrest, Casey Anthony walked away, virtually scot-free, from one of the most sensational murder trials of all time. She'd been accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, but the trial only left behind more questions: Was she a...

Learn all about dolphins with this beautifully illustrated book! Professional photos will delight your child as he or she finds out about dolphins and dolphin babies, including:* What dolphins eat* How dolphins play and trick their trainers* How dolphins talk* What puts dolphins in danger* How dolphins and humans help each otherThis book is designed to take about 15 minutes for a child to read, and is engaging for both child and parent alike.

****“Science Friday” Summer Reading Pick****Discover magazine Top 5 Summer Reads****People magazine Best Summer Reads**“A lovely, big-hearted book…brimming with compassion and the tales of the many, many humans who devote their days to making animals well” (The New York Times).**Have you ever wondered if your dog might be a bit depressed? How about heartbroken or homesick? Animal Madness takes these questions seriously, expl...

I pull on my balaclava and step onto the bridge wing. It’s loud outside: I can hear the rumbles of nine vessels’ engines and the hiss of ten water cannons … Suddenly the bridge is full of refugees from the upper deck. They are blocking my view out the back windows, but their faces – afraid, excited, awestruck – illustrate the looming presence of the Nisshin. I bend my knees and grip the bench, ready for the crunch.In Blood and Guts, Sam Vincent plunges into the wh...

Sharks are intriguing and beautiful creatures - but they can also be deadly. As we humans have explored the world's oceans and exploited them for tourism and recreation, we have found ourselves coming into contact with more and more sharks. And the outcome can be fatal. From the Seychelles to South Africa, and Australia to North America, tourists, divers and surfers have seemingly found themselves under increased threat from unprovoked shark attacks. Fatal attacks have occurred in location...