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| Whales and Dolphins (Collins Wild Guide) (Collins Wild Guides) | 
| Author: Mark Carwardine
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
Buy New: $16.05
New (4) from $16.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 2478621
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 3.9 x 0.7
Dewey Decimal Number: 599.5
ASIN: B00127UJ6A
Publication Date: April 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Whales and Dolphins Wild Guide is the perfect introduction to 96 species of whale, dolphin, and porpoise. This pocket-size guide is essential for the family reference shelf, helping you to identify each species and discover more about them. - Detailed description and ID Fact File provide at-a-glance information for each entry
- Full-color photographs illustrate each species
- Information on size, geographical distribution, and diet
- Contains information on whether the species is under threat and protection
Published in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, America's foremost authority in history, science, and art.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
whales dolphins and porpoises June 8, 2007
the ultimate guide, including all cetacean species known to mna, even the elusive beaked whales. Even inlcudes a species or two that had only been discovered by skulls. The illustrations for those species are the artist's impressions. The artist is the amazing marc carwardine. Excellent guide for cetacean lovers
An outstanding book. May 17, 2007
Once again, reading the list of photo-credits at the back of this book is like reading the index in a "Who's Who in the world of Underwater Photography." This is an exciting book with colour photographs (though occasionally a map or diagram) on every single page and the standard of reproduction is as good as it gets.
As with "Sharks & Rays" (a book in the same series), the content is also as good as it gets and, if you only had room to pack a single book on the subject before setting out to discover some of these excellent creatures, then this book will satisfy all your requirements.
Commencing with their customary "Understanding" Whales Dolphins and Porpoises, the reader is then taken on a journey which provides a complete and wide understanding of these incredible creatures - many species of which remain on the brink of extinction. With sections on hunting, captivity, migration and much more plus a page dedicated to each specific species, this book is as complete as it should be and fully lives up to the promise in the title of being an "Ultimate" guide.
Altogether and excellent book and an essential addition to any scuba diver's library.
NM
An outstanding book. May 17, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Once again, reading the list of photo-credits at the back of this book is like reading the index in a "Who's Who in the world of Underwater Photography." This is an exciting book with colour photographs (though occasionally a map or diagram) on every single page and the standard of reproduction is as good as it gets.
As with "Sharks & Rays" (a book in the same series), the content is also as good as it gets and, if you only had room to pack a single book on the subject before setting out to discover some of these excellent creatures, then this book will satisfy all your requirements.
Commencing with their customary "Understanding" Whales Dolphins and Porpoises, the reader is then taken on a journey which provides a complete and wide understanding of these incredible creatures - many species of which remain on the brink of extinction. With sections on hunting, captivity, migration and much more plus a page dedicated to each specific species, this book is as complete as it should be and fully lives up to the promise in the title of being an "Ultimate" guide.
Altogether and excellent book and an essential addition to any scuba diver's library.
NM
Outstanding field guide April 10, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is extremely useful to both the general reader and to those with a serious interest in cetaceans. The book is well organized for quick reference and beautifully illustrated to aid in species identification in the field. Cetaceans are grouped by family and unique characteristics are clearly defined and illustrated. In addition the book is lightweight and easily carried on a boat trip. Highly recommended.
 useful but not perfect February 14, 2001
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!
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