Winner of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction * Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A “delving, haunted, and poetic debut” (The New York Times Book Review) about the awe-inspiring lives of whales, revealing what they can teach us about ourselves, our planet, and our relationship with other … relationship with other species.
When writer Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales reflect the condition of our oceans. Fathoms: The World in the Whale is “a work of bright and careful genius” (Robert Moor, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails), one that blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? How has whale culture been both understood and changed by human technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendor, and fragility of life on earth?
In Fathoms, we learn about whales so rare they have never been named, whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet’s atmosphere. We travel to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales and delve into the deepest seas to discover how plastic pollution pervades our earth’s undersea environment.
With the immediacy of Rachel Carson and the lush prose of Annie Dillard, Giggs gives us a “masterly” (The New Yorker) exploration of the natural world even as she addresses what it means to write about nature at a time of environmental crisis. With depth and clarity, she outlines the challenges we face as we attempt to understand the perspectives of other living beings, and our own place on an evolving planet. Evocative and inspiring, Fathoms “immediately earns its place in the pantheon of classics of the new golden age of environmental writing” (Literary Hub).
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When Rebecca Giggs witnesses a stranded whale dying on the beach in Australia, she sets out to research the ecological role that whales fill and their place in the interconnected natural world.
When I first finished this book back in January, I rated it 3 stars. I roughly translate that to “good enough but forgettable.” Yet here I am in April, going for walks on the beach every morning, mesh bag over my shoulder, picking up every tiny piece of litter I see along the water line. I don’t want whales to accidentally eat the litter when it washes out to sea. Unimaginable numbers of ocean life die when they accidentally ingest our trash. I’ve discussed this with my husband, who brings up the point that I (and the other walkers out there with me) am enabling all the litter bugs to keep dropping their White Claw cans wherever they want since the beach is magically clean again when they emerge from their drunken stupors the next afternoon. It’s a fair point but my rebuttal is that addressing human behavior is a long-term project but the whales need help now. Forgettable book? Not at all. Disturbing? Most definitely.
Since I’ve waited three months to write this review, some details have faded. The author begins with that beached whale and discusses what causes mass strandings (no one is sure, if I recall correctly) and then describes in terrible detail exactly how beached whales die. It’s not an easy death and it isn’t easy to read about. Once the whale dies (with or without human intervention, which is its own thorny ecological conundrum), the problem of disposal arises. Authorities have tried some pretty horrific tactics, and again, there’s no easy answer.
Another section that stands out to me describes a “whalefall,” the way that a whale that dies out at sea decomposes and slowly, inexorably falls to the ocean floor. The process fosters an entire ecosystem, from the surface dwellers to organisms who live at the bottom of the ocean, far past the point of light penetration. This part is also graphic but knowing that this is the way things should be makes it easier to stomach.
The problem of plastic trash and chemical contaminants in the ocean is also covered in depth. Someone found a whale that had swallowed an entire greenhouse that washed out to sea in a savage storm! Women in Greenland are discouraged from breastfeeding because their milk is so contaminated with chemicals from the fish they eat, it’s bad for their children. Just think about that for a few minutes. Humans live as if we’re independent of nature but when we poison it, we ultimately poison ourselves too.
Ms. Griggs also addresses whale hunting at length. She particularly calls out Japanese whaling, saying that the country really doesn’t eat much whale meat so everything they catch and butcher just gets canned to sit in a warehouse. I’m oversimplifying, but that was my takeaway.
The writing is very introspective, philosophical, and beautiful, but that may have taken away from the book a bit for me. I personally prefer writing like that in small chunks and have a hard time maintaining the focus it requires for long periods of time. That said, my focus may have added to my retention of more facts than I would normally expect. It’s hard to say.
I could go on because Ms. Griggs covers a lot more ground, but I’ll try to wrap up my review. This is not an easy book to read by any means. The topics are difficult and sometimes horrifying. The language requires the reader’s full attention. But a book that makes a tangible difference in my behavior could also make a change in the behavior of others, hopefully leading us to finally get serious about saving our oceans and ourselves.