The Ultimate Book of Whales: Up-Close Encounters With Earth's Mightiest Mammals

by Brian Skerry, Stephanie Warren Drimmer

192 pages, Library Binding

Published June 10, 2025

About the author

Brian Skerry is a photojournalist and visual storyteller specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine covering stories on every continent and in nearly every ocean habitat. In 2014 he was named as a National Geographic Society PhotographyFellow and then named a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow in 2017. In 2017 he was also awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.

For National Geographic Magazine, Brian has produced a wide range of stories, from the harp seal’s struggle to survive in frozen waters to the alarming decrease in the world’s fisheries to dolphin intelligence, all cover stories. A fourth cover story, in February 2017 focused on protecting ocean ecosystems in US waters and during this coverage Brian produced the first images of a sitting US President underwater. He is currently at work on his 29th story for NGM.

Brian’s work has also been featured in publications such as The NY Times, TheWashington Post, Paris Match, Esquire, and Audubon. He is the author of 12 books including the acclaimed monographs Ocean Soul and SHARK. His latest book, Secrets of the Whales will be released in April 2021 by National Geographic as part of a multiplatform project he created that includes a cover story in National Geographic magazineand a 4-part documentary filmseries on Disney +.

Brian is an 11-time award winner in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and has also been recognized with awards from Pictures of the Year International, Nature’s Best and Communication Arts. He the only photographer to win the coveted Peter Benchley Award for Excellence in Media. In 2010 National Geographic magazine named one of Brian’s images among their 50 Greatest Photographs of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the National Geographic Photographer’s PhotographerAward, an honor bestowed by his colleagues, other National Geographic photographers. The Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences awarded Brian the 2019 NOGI Award for Arts, an award frequently referred to as the ‘Underwater Oscar’ and in 2020 he received the President’s Award from the Conservation Law Foundation.

Brian frequently lectures on ocean exploration, storytelling and conservation having presented at venues such as The United Nations General Assembly, The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, TED Talks, The National Press Club in Washington, DC, The Royal Geographical Society in London and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

He has had numerous solo photographer exhibits including Portraits of Planet Ocean, a two-year exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC and Ocean Soul at Visa pour l’image in Perpignan, France. Other exhibits of his work have been held in cities worldwide including Geneva, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Shanghai. Brian is the Explorer-In-Residence and a Trustee at the New England Aquarium, a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club. He also serves as a Nikon Ambassador.

Reviews

[Analie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Before reading this, I had no idea that some kinds of dolphins live in rivers or that some whales can communicate across thousands of miles. The huge photographs of whale encounters with Brian Skerry make this a fun book for both kids and adults alike.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

National Geographic Kids does such a great job on nonfiction for kids. This is the whale book I wish I had owned when I was a kid. It is packed full of stunning photographs and information about all aspects of whales. Different types, their anatomy, how they find food and more is packed into this guide to everything whales.