Troubled Waters

Troubled Waters explores the fate of whales and dolphins and how that fate became intertwined with human history.  The story begins more than 1,000 years ago when hunters first took up harpoons and went to sea in search of the rich rewards of meat, oil and whalebone.  The book charts a course through the whaling boom of the 18th and 19th centuries, the tragic implications of commercial fishing and noise pollution, the controversial keeping of dolphins and whales in captivity, and the current row over Japanese whaling—all within the context of the human social, cultural and political developments that have shaped the lives of these creatures.