Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures

by Nick Pyenson

“A palaeontological howdunnit…[Spying on Whales] captures the excitement of…seeking answers to deep questions in cetacean science.” —Nature   Called “the best of science writing” (Edward O. Wilson) and named a best book by Popular Science, a dive into the secret lives of whales, from their four-legged past to their perilous present.Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-sized creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and travel entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection--yet there is still so much we don't know about them. Why did it take whales over 50 million years to evolve to such big sizes, and how do they eat enough to stay that big? How did their ancestors return from land to the sea--and what can their lives tell us about evolution as a whole? Importantly, in the sweepstakes of human-driven habitat and climate change, will whales survive?Nick Pyenson's research has given us the answers to some of our biggest questions about whales. He takes us deep inside the Smithsonian's unparalleled fossil collections, to frigid Antarctic waters, and to the arid desert in Chile, where scientists race against time to document the largest fossil whale site ever found. Full of rich storytelling and scientific discovery, Spying on Whales spans the ancient past to an uncertain future--all to better understand the most enigmatic creatures on Earth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Animals, Biology, History, Audiobook

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2018

About the author

Nick Pyenson is the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. His work has taken him to every continent, and has made numerous high profile scientific discoveries. Along with the highest research awards from the Smithsonian, he has also received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Obama White House. He now lives with his family in Maryland.

Reviews

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flipper is far overrated, the underrepresented (except Free Willy) whales are at least as astonishing.

Luckily the creepy days of mass whale slaying are over, just the rusting remains of the huge whale processing facilities stay as a warning against the overexploitation of nature. The few remaining countries with traditional or so-called scientific whaling are the least problem. Instead, the ever-louder ocean with stronger communication tools for the growing world ship population, pollution and the unknown, coming effects of climate change and global warming are and are becoming a problem. Maybe a more whale friendly navigating technology may be found or the whales adapt to the new circumstances by altering their communication process or even physiology. Who knows, nature is very creative in dealing with new circumstances. Intuitively one might probably think that such a large animal might take longer to change ist behavior, but their brain is not just big, but smart too, although sometimes size certainly matters.

There is big and there is whaleBIG. Just the numbers how quick they grow while they drink vast amounts of milk (more than 250 Liters a day) until becoming really huge and eating until a stomach that can hold two tons is full.

An interesting question may be how big they are going to get. Assuming the climate change may improve the conditions and turn large enough areas of the oceans in a kind of underwater rainforest paradise( a cold one, cause the colder the climate, the bigger the animals) where they have enough food all the time, they might get even bigger. Or the whole oceanic foodchain may collapse otherwise.

It is immense how much can be reconstructed just by analyzing and comparing fossils. With today's modern technologies and coming help from AI the few lonely, unrelated skeletons and open questions may be solved soon. How animals went on land and off the land or stayed in the coastal zone or thought, "Damn it, I am going to adapt to the highlands or deeper areas of the sea where I can live in peace.", is just amazing.

How their bodies adapted to each new environment and still adapt at this moment, how each climate and food availability could be made a home with ingenuity. Especially whale graveyards are both a great possibility to study the history and a reason to ask the question, how intelligent and sensitive whales might be. If it might turn out that they go to die in certain places and/or these places are visited by their family, that might be a milestone. The development of blowholes, the adaption of bones that were originally built for a higher gravity, how the body and organs deal with the extreme freediving trips. And, of course, epic fights to the death between a sperm whale and giant squid. It might get even more entertaining if the squid lived in one of the many areas where nuclear waste used to (or still is) be stored temporarily until a secure form of final disposal will be found. Many deep seas creatures are bioluminescent, but that might add a special touch. Probably even the legendary octopus/ Kraken, now with glowing, nuclear superpowers, who cooperates with the giant squid against the sperm whale.

The look in a far future, million years from now, is even more interesting with an animal that has already been on land in the form of Pakicetus, got better adjusted to the sea as Ambulocetus and finally became a real whale with all the different adaptions to eating just plankton or meat. Out of that grew more pacifistic or aggressive species of whales and one cannot imagine what will come. I mean, freaking gangster, Chuck Norris style Orcas have begun killing white sharks cause they like their liver and other organs. All other marine animals think "Oh my god, a shark, we are all gonna die.", and the killer wales like "Hold my kelp beer and my seal burger for a moment..."And after the massacre, the orca thinks: "Nah, I wasn't even hungry, I will just eat the most delicious parts an leave the rest behind." Sharks are really poor victims, humans cut their fins off from above and the orcas come coordinated from all sites. One must be a smart badass to do that. And just like chimps and dolphins, especially Orcas may tend to be cruel for no reason too.

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spying on Whales is a beautifully written introduction to the immersive world of whales. From their ancestry to their future, the beauty and evolution of these magnificent creatures as well as their adaptability, influence and importance to their and other ecosystems is explored in easy terms anyone can understand.

This is the endeavor of Nick Pyenson, a paleontologist and curator at the Smithsonian Institute, who shares his passion for whales and the history their bones tell us. He himself considers paleontologists tour guides, since they are used to asking questions without having all the facts. Fossils studied are often removed from context, and therefore only give clues to draw inferences from. In this book, Pyenson presents a selective account of chasing whales, both living and extinct. Otherwise you would find yourself reading an encyclopedia for each whale species. He describes his experiences:

”…from Antarctica to the deserts of Chile, to the tropical coastlines of Panama, to the waters of Iceland and Alaska, using a wide variety of devices and tools to study whales: suction-cupped tags that cling to their backs; knives to dissect skin and blubber from muscles and nerves; and hammers to scrape and whack away rock that obscures gleaming, fossilized bone.”

– Nick Pyenson

Check out the Peyenson Lab:
http://nmnh.typepad.com/pyenson_lab/


Spying on Whales is divided into parts:

Part I tells us about the PAST. A chronicle of whale history from mammals walking on land to their transition to aquatic animals. This is the part scientists rely mostly on fossil records. It therefore explains how paleontologists look for clues and what questions they have to ask themselves to uncover the details presented. This information borderlines with other sciences and tells us about whales in geological time. Pyenson specifically spends a greater part of detail on the discovery and his works at Cerro Ballena, the world’s richest fossil whale graveyard.

Here is the link for Cerro Ballena:
http://cerroballena.si.edu/images

Part II tells about the PRESENT. How did whales become the biggest creatures ever in the history of life? What are the challenges of sustaining such enormous sizes? Here is where we learn about biological processes of whales and Pyenson’s work at a whaling station. What are the challenges of studying organisms of such size? What are his newest discoveries?

 
Part III explores the (uncertain) FUTURE of whales. It informs of population rates, climate change, new habitats, other species affected, changes in the oceans and new unusual whale sightings.

We have all heard, read and seen the tragedies unfold by the hands of humans affecting whales and their co-inhabitants of our oceans. Therefore, I want to assure those that have asked me if it is a depressing book to read, that there are no horrific pictures or scenes depicted in this book. Part III acknowledges this, but does not harbor on these. Rather it explains scientific works needed, the news of other scientific findings and the collective deduction that perhaps gives hope to further investigations.
 

“My hope is that this book says as much about the inner lives of scientists as it does about whales.”  

– Nick Pyenson

I was fortunate to have two copies of this book available to me. One was the audio book version and the other a copy from the library. The narrator on the audio book was Nick Pyenson himself. That is always a plus. To hear the author express his writings in his own voice made it conversationally easy to understand and added emphasis on what was most important to him scientifically as well as distinctively convey his message to the reader. As I was finishing up my listening and began to dig into some of the author’s research, I became aware that there are drawings in the book that I did not want to miss. Lucky for me I was able to get a copy of the book at the library.

There are many interesting facts that come into play in Spying on Whales. More then I can list here. Upon reading this book and discussing it with others, I was confirmed that whale bones in particular are a great example to study evolutionary history on. Pyenson presents this with clear examples, his love and experience for paleontology and the changes that have occurred over time. Not only in whales, but in mammals and other aquatic animals. From bone structures (skulls, hips, tails, fins) to senses like eyesight, hearing and blow holes and to communication, order of species and socialization.
 
The fact is, the oceans are like the frontier that still offers plenty of room for discovery. My take-away from this book is that there are passionate people around the world working tirelessly in their respective fields. It is not only a race against time, but a journey to understanding more of the past that tells the story to our now.

I am not a scientist, for certain. I merely have a general interest or thirst for knowledge. This book presents a glimpse into the life of whales and the study of paleontology and it quenches this desire for a little while, till I discover another topic and book to delve into. It certainly suits as an introduction for curious students perhaps to pursue the sciences, research, fieldwork if not at least create compassion for living things. I certainly would recommend it as such.

My awe for whales has only been fueled thanks to the things I learned and did not know before this book. I would love for everyone to read it as it reads effortless and interestingly. It is books like this one that lead to more searches online, create more engagement by its audience, instill awareness, hence spread knowledge in the general populous. Give it a try. TODAY :)

More sites listed here: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/new-...

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited when I saw and read about this book. Whales are such majestic and mysterious creatures and I thought it would be a fascinating read. Unfortunately, no. Spying on Whales was actually quite dull and boring. How is that even possible for a book on WHALES ?? This book was all over the place rather than written in any type of linear fashion. It jumped from paleontology to whaling expeditions to stories about scientists to the evolution of whales to their anatomy and back and forth and around and around. Just when I started to get interested in something, the author would jump to another topic. Rather than answer questions, he simply framed more. I learned little about whales in this book, sadly. I realise that partly this is because there is much about whales that we humans still do not know; however, the blurb of the book was quite tantalizing, dangling the promise of answers, compelling me to read the book.

OK, I went and read the synopsis again. Perhaps I should have read it better before; it says, "Nick Pyenson's research has given us the answers to some of our biggest questions about whales". So there it is: This book has some (very few) answers. Maybe I'm just greedy and expect too much, but when I read a science book, I want to actually learn something.

There were a handful of interesting tidbits, making this not a total wash-out:

•The record of time a whale has been recorded holding its breath is 137.5 minutes. That's over 2 hours' worth of oxygen sucked into its lungs!

•Whales have the same individual finger bones as humans (though they are flat, wrapped together in flesh, and streamlined into fins).

•Whales have culture, culture being defined as the "kind of information stored outside an animal’s DNA that can be transmitted across individuals or generations".

•Whales can live to be over 200 years old.

Unfortunately, the book contained much more about paleontology and stories of bone-collecting expeditions than whale facts. If you're into paleontology, you might like this book more than I did. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 (half star awarded for the gorgeous cover).

[Radiantflux · Rating 2 out of 5]

13th book for 2019.

One of my jobs as a scientific journal editor was to commission review articles on topics of general interest from leading scientists in the field. A surprising number of reviews were unusable because the author decided to base the entire "review" around their own work. And this is a major problem with Pyenson's book. Most of the book is a somewhat rambling collection of his own experiences as a scientist without any real breadth. So there's lots about his own excavations of whale skeletons and somewhat random facts about whale anatomy (basically facts pertinent to his own previous research), but very little about other scientists work. Not even very systematic facts about the life cycle of whales, their distribution, their social networks; presumably because that was the work of other scientists. And he is constantly name dropping the fact that he's working for the Smithsonian. Get over it!

Nice cover though!

2-stars.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always had a fascination with whales, dolphins and other mammals that live in the sea. I think maybe it's because they are so like us, and yet so different at the same time. When I saw this book written by a Smithsonian paleontologist, I knew I had to read all about the past, present and future of whales. I'm glad I did -- this book is fascinating!

Nick Pyenson shares so many facts about whales...species that still swim in our oceans and ones that are long gone. He discusses the ancestors of the whales we know today, the life of whales now and what the future might be for some of the largest creatures on the planet. There is still so much about whales that we don't know because they spend most of their time in deep ocean where even modern humans have a hard time following. I found it fascinating that Pyenson shared the fact that some whales can live more than 200 years...so there are some still swimming that saw wooden ships with sails skimming across the ocean. It made me wonder with awe what experiences the oldest whale in the world might have had over its long life.

There is a lot of information and facts shared in this book, and at times Pyenson does get a bit academic. I read this book in small pieces, not in large chunks. The information is interesting and fascinating. But at times, the author let his ego show a bit. I don't fault highly educated people for this at all....they have a lot of knowledge and experiences that I don't. For me, small doses is best with information dense nonfiction like this book. Every night I would read a chapter or two while the HD television across the room showed an ocean documentary for ambiance. It just so happened that I was reading this book while Shark Week was on Discovery Channel....so it worked out perfectly. Sharks aren't whales of course...but the lovely ocean scenes made a perfect background for my enjoyment of this book.

Lovely book! A nice blend of Pyenson's personal experiences and facts, history and information about whales themselves. He presents the information in an interesting way. Pyenson actually gives tours at the Smithsonian. After reading his book, I imagine he is an awesome guide! Great read!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Penguin/Viking via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

First-rate popular-science book, the best I’ve read in 2018. Highly recommended, if you are interested in whales, marine biology and/or paleontology. If, like me, you like all three — don’t miss! 4.6667 stars.

The author, a paleontologist, is Curator of Marine Mammal Fossils at the Smithsonian, a whale-family enthusiast, and a fine writer. I almost always prefer pop-science written by active scientists. Even better if they are doing field work, as that's what I did. You will learn a good deal about how science is actually done in this book.

This time, I’m doing a meta-review, with photos!
Here’s the long review at the Atlantic, which led me to read the book: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
A fine short review: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/s...
And read Scarlett’s, here, with illustrations, links and details: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/new-...
Nice author interview, with link to the Fresh Air podcast: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/01/634456...

The book has woodcuts and linocuts for illustrations, but could have used some actual photos. So here are some: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/researc... Very cool stuff -- which is supposed to be archived, but not working this AM, 11/20/20.

Basilosaurus was a truly bizarre ancestral whale, discussed at some length in the book. It was first thought to be a marine reptile, but was definitely a mammal. Here’s a reconstruction of a pack: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
-- they may have hunted in packs, like today's killer whales. Open image full screen for most impressive effect (all three).
The first and best complete skeletons were found at Wadi El Hitan (Whale Valley) in Egypt: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Maybe more than you want to know at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilos...

And, finally, four humpbacks blowing and diving in Seymour Canal, Alaska: a prime whale-watching area where the author worked tagging humpback whales: https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/USA-...
Bonus: Cool National Geographic humpback video, also in Alaska: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1nCZ...

[Mary Carrasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I think about whales, I get excited. What amazing, majestic HUGE creatures! They hold a very symbolic meaning for me and so I couldn't wait to get this book. The book itself is still fascinating but exciting? Not so much. Written by a scientist, it reads a bit like a science book. Nick Pyenson was extremely thorough in laying out the evolution of whales. I'm sorry to say it wasn't enough to keep my attention for long periods of time. I'm still in absolute awe of whales. I mean, look at that book cover, wow! 2.5 stars rounded up.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a colleague. An excellent, non-technical, introduction to the marvelous animals known as whales. But, Pyenson's love of his field, paleontology, is obvious and it opened up a new insight for me as to how this field functions. Quite well done!

Pyenson's time at the Smithsonian has been instrumental in the creation of this book. We learn about the different types of whales and how they evolved over the millennia. Pyenson explains the various field programs he has been on and what he has found. We accompany him to the Atacama desert where he looks at fossils and explores his inner thoughts about the longevity of whales (some can live to be 200 years old!!), all the way to the Antarctic where he looks for more evidence of whale evolution. His love of his field and whales shines through.

He breaks the book down into three parts: past, present and future.
The past covers how whales went from four-legged animals to the majestic water dwellers we know today.
The present looks at the state of whales currently and the future ruminates on how humanity and whales can co-exist and what humanity can learn about these amazing creatures.

A great book for anyone interested eiother in whales or in paleontology.

[L.G. Cullens · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and informative read for those that appreciate the natural world, and pertinent to our futures.
Written with the perspective of a paleontologist, one can see the depth in natural world awareness.

[✨ jami ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, whales are one of my favourite animals like they are so beautiful, so majestic, and some of them are so huge it's mind-boggling! I was definitely one of those kids reading those huge whale encyclopedias in primary school (you know the ones where it lists all the species and shows their size compared to school buses). Yeah, so I've never got over that, I love whales!

Spying on Whales is a book I saw get a lot of hype last year after it won a Goodreads Choice Award, so I really wanted to pick it up and see what all the hype was about! I can see why people enjoyed this, it's a really short book that packs in a lot of information, and has a strong personal voice that runs through the entire book. Pyenson is obviously really passionate about his work, and infuses this book with a lot of personal stories and research that helps fill between the jargon and academic sections.

Some of my favourite sections included the evolution of whales, and how they went from land mammals to aquatic mammals. The small discussion on the ethics of killing endangered whales for scientific research, and some of the new research emerging about whales, like how some live for 200 years!

But even though I liked this book overall, I did have some issues. For one, this wasn't structured well. Even though it's separated into past, present and future, there isn't really much distinction in the sections. The present section I expected to be about the future of whales, but a lot was about extinct whales of the past, which was weird.

The author also would start on a topic, then randomly cut to another without a proper linking topic. I also found the heavy focus on the author's stories kind of annoying - I personally don't like science books that focus more on the writer than the research. The way the story cut between a story the author was telling, and the factual bits, annoyed me and again, really needed more linking and structure to make it less choppy.

That said, this was still a nice, short non-fiction with some really interesting tidbits about whale life that were definitely fascinating. It just wasn't my favourite in terms of writing and structure.

[Kathy K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted very much to enjoy this book, but it was dry and poorly focused. The emphasis was on personal experiences and the paleontology/taxonomy, without strongly addressing the compelling questions in the jacket blurb. Although there are some illustrations, they are overly simplistic and seemed to be decorative and not informative.

The notes section is good and provides interesting references and additional resources.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about whales. Mostly focused on whale fossils and the paleobiology of whales. Well written, great information. Beware: there are some graphic passages about whales being processed by a whaling ship. Definitely recommended for biologists interested in cetaceans. There's also a nice reading list at the end with some great suggestions for follow up reading!

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sat transfixed by a sea littered with a million fragments of ice, all rising and falling in time with the slow roll of the waves. We had spent the morning looking for humpback whales in Wilhelmina Bay, threading our rubber boat between gargantuan icebergs that were tall and sharp, like overturned cathedrals. We had come to the end of the Earth to place a tag on one of these massive oceangoing mammals.

Written by the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian, Spying on Whales is a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of whales over tens of millions of years. The book is divided into three parts: past, present, and future, focusing mainly on whale evolution, biology related to feeding, and the impact of human behavior on whales. Pyenson is an eloquent writer, weaving just the right amount of story-telling into the narrative. (For me, facts are like chocolate chips and the story is the cookie dough. You need some dough so the book isn’t too dry, but I like the chocolate bits best.)

As a paleontologist, Pyenson has a sweeping and confident story to tell about the fossil record, not only from studying the amazing collection at the Smithsonian and other museums, but also through his own adventures in fossil hunting from Alaska to the Artic. (He seems to view himself as a kind of Indiana Jones figure, which I found amusing.)

I was amazed to read about the transformation of whales from small four-legged animals that lived on riverbanks to oceanic leviathans that use adaptations like echolocation. I had no idea that whales are the largest animals to ever live on the planet. Yes, bigger than dinosaurs. Today, there are beaked whales and narwhal whales with unicorn-like horns (the horn is actually a giant tooth) because evolution is awesome and really, really strange.

Pyenson extensively describes the feeding habits of the two types of whales (baleen and toothed), especially how baleen whales gulp in huge volumes of water and food, then strain the water out through their sieve of baleen. He and colleagues discovered a gelatinous sensory organ inside the whale jaw attached to tiny hairs on the outside of the chin (like cat whiskers!), which help whales detect fish or krill nearby. Honestly, I was less interested in baleen feeding methodology or anatomy than the brief descriptions of whales working together to capture fish by creating bubble “nets” or killer whales hunting in pods.

I caught sight of a tall dorsal fin that can belong only to an adult male killer whale knifing through the air. From far away, the elongate triangle was devoid of reflection, as if someone had cut a hole out of the sky. As the supreme predator of the oceans, their diet includes an entire species list of other marine predators: great white sharks, baleen whales, other dolphins, sea lions, squid...

The future section is the shortest and (to me) the weakest part of the book, speculating on how climate change, rising sea levels, and the impact of increasing CO2 on the aquatic food web may benefit some types of whales, while decimating others. Pyenson hypothesizes that whales able to survive in diverse environments and subsist on a broad-based diet are more likely to survive. Sadly, some species are already extinct a result of human actions like whaling, bycatch, building dams, and dumping mercury and other chemicals into rivers and oceans.

The references to whale song, intelligence, and behavior were the highlights of the book for me. Pyenson notes that ocean dolphins (e.g., killer whales) have the largest brain to mass ratio (called the EQ) of any mammal except humans and baleen whales have an EQ very close to primates. For most of our planet’s history, dolphins were the brainiest creatures around! Dolphins are one of the few mammals to pass the mirror self-recognition test and toothed whales have such complex vocalizations and clicks that the mathematics of information theory seems to be one of the few ways to describe its content. And whales often sing together:

Scientists had recently discovered that male humpbacks produce complex songs, composed of phrases collected under broader themes, nested like Russian dolls that repeat in a loop. Each new singer improvises on the loop…

This was a fascinating, well-written, and meticulously researched book. A few things prevented it from being five stars for me. I would have loved more information about whale behavior and fewer snide remarks about “whale huggers.” Pyenson is an incredible scientist, but not necessarily an animal lover. (The matter-of-fact descriptions of him dissecting whale heads on a ship in Iceland, with rivulets of blood underfoot and the carcass being turned into meat, made me a bit queasy.) As he explains, he is a scientist interested in Deep Time and whales are a means to answer his questions about evolution, but not a means to an end in themselves. He is absolutely entitled to this perspective, mine is just different. (And yes, I did have a stuffed whale as a child. So?)

As another great author once said…so long, and thanks for all the fish.

[Camelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Pyenson is a paleontologist and the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

If you are interested in whales as I am, this is a book you. In Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures, Nick Pyenson talked about the major evolution changes of whales by examining whale bones: how whales became aquatic mammals; how blue whale became the largest animal on earth; what does the future look like for whales in the Anthropocene. He also documented the major dig in Cerro Ballena in Chile where four layers of mass graves of whales bones were discovered.

[Steve Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think having read "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs" right before reading this really soured this one for me - there was more paleontology in this book than there was in the dino book.

[Cher 'N Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - It was great. I loved it.

Did you know that whales used to walk on land before returning to the water?

Oh the rabbit holes this book led me down….googled until my googler was sore. Easy to read (not dry at all) with fascinating tidbits. I love that the author makes you aware of what has been done by humans, along with what might happen due to humans (pros and cons), without being preachy or condescending.

-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: We sent whalesong into interstellar space because the creatures that sing these songs are superlative beings that fill us with awe, terror, and affection. We have hunted them for thousands of years and scratched them into our mythologies and iconography. Their bones frame the archways of medieval castles. They’re so compelling that we imagine aliens might find them interesting — or perhaps understand their otherworldly, ethereal song.

First Sentence: At this very moment, two spacecraft move at over thirty-four thousand miles per hour, about ten billion miles away from us, each carrying a gold-plated copper record.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Pyenson is the creator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian, and this book is the story of everything scientists have learned about whales from the fossil record. Pyenson draws upon his own work and the work of others to tell the story of whales in the distant past, whales of today, and whales in the future. It's surprisingly readable, and it's full of lovely personal stories of Pyenson's own fossil hunting, especially his time in Chile at the site of the world's largest whale fossil collection.

[kirabobeera · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I wanted an analytical and purely scientific examination of whales' history and evolution, I shouldn't have picked up this book. If I wanted an objective and comprehensive evaluation of scientific research, I shouldn't have picked up this book. Instead, you get a narrative of one scientist's traipse across the world and self-promoting research. Rather than a clear and impersonal account, you get a narcissistic, author-centric novel about his own grandiose work.

Now, that isn't to say that Pyenson's research is diminutive in any way. A lot of the research that he has performed has been invaluable in understanding whales' evolutionary history and potential future trajectory. I was initially drawn to this book due to his prior research and contributions to the greater scientific cetacean community. However, the information within this book is just so focused on him rather than the whales that it becomes a bit difficult to get through. I emphasize the word "narrative," as this is not the distanced writing of other familiar scientific authors. There is so much peripheral "stuff" that is about him, his family, his feelings, and his thoughts that it ultimately detracts from the overall science of the book.

Pyenson's novel seems to rely centrally on himself and the work that he has done over the course of his career. Again, that isn't to imply that his research is unimportant or irrelevant—his work truly compromises the backbone of Spying on Whales and is a fundamental part of the underlying story. There are tiffs about driving over nighttime Central American highways, quips about his family's begrudging acceptance to let him foray for fossils on the beach, and nudges about how he's just so well-versed in his area of study (which is a given, as he is an expert paleontologist.) It comes off as self-centered and egotistical; a tone of voice that carries so much extra authority that it's just tiring.

Narrative aside, the science and research is captivating. There is so much to be learned from whales, both present-day and long-extinct species. Removing the periphery of Pyenson's narration, you learn an incredible amount about how whales have evolved, why they evolved, and what it means for the future. Truly, the information contained within is striking, and I have never been so impressed with these incredible creatures.

If you're willing to wade through the narrative, this book is certainly one to be taken seriously. Though the book is riddled with rhetorical and hypothetical questions (few of which are actually answered,) you will find yourself immersed in the Miocene oceans of early cetaceans and taken through the fossils collections of the Smithsonian.

This is not a book that I would consider to be heavily scientific, but it does contain vital facets of scientific research, collaboration, and analysis. I am pleased to have read it, but am unlikely to pick it up again. Surely, there are those readers that would find the narrative effective in making the research more personal and relatable, but there are also those that would find it trite. Be sure to know which one you are.

[Kerri Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was more than I imagined it would be. I've read plenty of books about whales (and loved pretty much all of them). But I've never read a book about whale fossils, which is largely what this book is about.

Pyenson is a paleontologist and curator of fossil marine mammals for the Smithsonian. He's also a skilled and interesting storyteller, as evidenced by how little I wanted to put this book down once I started reading. There were a handful of words I had to look up (something I hope to be doing for as long as I'm reading; learning is my favorite part of reading), and some really fascinating (to me) exposition on how large whale fossils are excavated, studied, and preserved. This book isn't fluff, and it isn't whimsical, but it's full of beautiful stories about whales beautifully told. (It also has some seriously lovely black and white illustrations.)

That scientists have been able to learn so much about the origins, past incarnations, and current machinations of whales from assorted bones and fossil fragments found all over the globe will never not be impressive.

Perhaps the most memorable parts of this book for me are the chapters and pages centered on whaling, which are equal parts haunting and honest.

I could write endless essays about how ridiculous, irresponsible, short-sighted, and self-serving it is that countries like Iceland, Norway, Japan are still whaling, but what's even more devastating is how many millions of whales were killed by men from all over the world in the 20th century alone: Three million whales gone. Species utterly decimated. Populations diminished to the brink of extinction, to the detriment of oceanic diversity and stability, and to the detriment of all of us.

[Four stars for so many dogeared pages and notes in the margins, and for the relentless hope that if more people take the time to learn about these stunning and resilient leviathans we won't destroy them (and our oceans) before they have a chance to survive us.]

[... · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not into paleontology so I found it incredibly boring. Guess I'm more interested in whale behavior and the history of human-whale relations than in whale physiology and anatomy.

2.5* rounded up because #whales

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

Pyenson is clearly obsessed with whales — with the idea of them, with studying them, with understanding them and sharing that understanding. In this volume, he does his best to share all those things: his enthusiasm for whales as much as his academic interest, his wonder at them as much as his understanding of them as part of their environment. He tours through whales of the past through their fossils (so if you’re a palaeontology nut, this one’s for you too!), whales of the present through observation and dissection (so if you’re into biology…) and whales of the future through trying to understand how they impact their environment, and what the seas might be like without them.

It’s a fascinating journey: whales aren’t one of the topics I read about obsessively, but I wasn’t going to pass up a book about them from the library, either. Pyenson’s style is breezy, and he manages to communicate wonder even about things that might sound kind of gross (like whale dissection). To my surprise, I think I was most fascinated by his chapter about the weird new sense organ he discovered in whales’ chins, via actually being there on a whaling station to see freshly killed whales being butchered. (He has mixed feelings about this, but correctly notes that sometimes, you have to use the opportunities you get.)

I’m not raring to go dashing off to become an expert in matters marine, which is the sign of a non-fiction book that really gets to me, but nonetheless there’s plenty of interest here for the armchair enthusiast. If the idea of these massive mammals takes your breath away a little bit, this book might just augment that.

[Taveri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn that there used to be Walrus-faced whales (Odobenocetops*), that had the right tusks longer than the left. The image in the book (page 104) shows the walrus digging for mollusks using the left tusk. There was no date that I could find indicating what period these creatures existed. It mentioned on a page about walruses and krill, typical of the book jumping around in subject matter. The three groupings "Past, Present and Future" made little sense to me as in each chapter there were still references to the past and a hodge podge covering of the author's experiences.

*Newsflash > Wikipedia says their temporal range was 7.2-3.6 mya and they are known from Peru and Chile.

[Abby Carson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was more about whale bones and less about whales in nature, which is what I was looking for.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book to read on studying whales. Pyenson kept it interesting while talking about scientific methods used and the different type of scientists that study whales. However, there is only so much excitement a non-scientist reader about finding a bunch of whale bones. I know that there is a lot of information that can be gathered from them. My, a non-scientific person, had my attention held for a good portion of the book.

How did I find this book? This was selected for the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library's Summer 2022 Big Read.

[Sophy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like whales, and paleontology, you'll probably like this book some!

Pyenson uses archaeological and paleontological evidence to back up observations made in the field about whales, from feeding habits, to sleeping positions to singing across miles of ocean!

The issue I have with the book (which I find with quite a few nature writers actually), is the acceptance and almost indifferent attitiude towards the ongoing brutal practice of whaling; so much so that Pyenson and his colleagues "borrow" bits of whale bodies that have been hacked from those poor creatures that have been brutally harpooned from the ocean! Surely a better stance from the scientific community would be to completely condemn whaling, as opposed to "well, lets not let a whale corpse go to waste, give us its skull"!! He even admits to decimation of whale numbers over the years, and extinction of certain river dolphin species. So campaign against it then from the safety of your Smithsonian office, instead of going out on whaling boats (!!!) and collecting more specimens to squirrel away in a museum back room!! Eugh it makes me mad that some scientists seem quietly resigned to and almost complicit in the further slaughtering of ancient, intelligent, and truly amazing animals.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

You’d think this would be a book about whales - but whales are given a supporting role at best. Instead, the book is more a meandering autobiography about the author’s experiences as a paleontologist and a smithsonian scientist (did I mention he’s a smithsonian scientist? If I didn’t, don’t worry, you’ll be very frequently reminded). Yes, his work focuses on whales, but the book is much more about his work than his whale findings. I don’t begrudge the scientist a book celebrating his work, only that he used sexy whales as a cover to do it.

That said: there are some interesting whale tidbits included, albeit pretty disorganized. If you’re looking for actual answers on the past, present, or future of whales, probably look elsewhere.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have read this book before - I even own the paperback version - it was great listening to it as an audiobook as well. The Narrator, Mike Grady, does a fabulous job of of bringing the authors work to life, perfect for the subject matter.

I love the way this book mixes personal anecdotes, museum information, planetology and animal information in with the history, both recent and prehistoric.

I thoroughly recommend it both as a paper book or as an audio, to anyone with an interest in whales, science or the adventure and mystery of science itself.

P.S. WTF Goodreads? Stop resetting this to 'currently reading' will you.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pyenson is the Smithsonian Curator of their whale collection, and one of the foremost authorities on whales. This book is tour through the recent science of whales, structured around his personal discoveries. The love of science comes through, but Pyenson is a paleontologist, and in his own words he’s not a whale hugger, so there’s an intellectual distance here.

Whales as a clade are roughly 50 million years old, descending from a creature that looked more like a modern dear than their current ocean adapted form. They evolved detailed aquatic specializations: blowholes, blubber, echolocation, as well as an atrophied legs, become the specialized sea creatures we know today. A major part of the narrative describes a dig in Chile, where hundreds of well-preserved whale skeletons have fossilized in four distinct events. Another section describes the gory business of anatomy at an Icelandic whaling station, where Pyenson and a collaborate discover specialized sensory organs in the jaw while help baleen whales gulp as much water and krill as they can.

The modern life of whales is inescapable from their near extinction at the hands of industrialized whaling, carried out not by the romantic sailors of Moby Dick but by in the 20th century by the brutal machinery of industrialized fisheries. Since their protection, some whales have bounced back. Humpback whales are nearly at their pre-extinction population levels. Other species are not doing so well, gigantic Blue Whales are still rare, and river dolphins at great risk everywhere. Pollution and climate change are key threats, and we do not (and possibly never will) understand the strange intelligence of these animals that we share the oceans with.

Spying on Whales does a fantastic job conveying the excitement of science, and a weaker job with the whales. Still an interesting book in the popular science genre.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been fortunate to see dolphins in the wild twice, but as yet have not seen any whales. It is one thing that I would love to do one day, assuming that we ever get back to anything resembling normal. These amazing creatures are the largest species that have ever graced our planet, the largest of which is the blue whale. Their size means that they can only live in the water, but they have adapted to this hostile environment perfectly. This is even more amazing when you think that they are not fish but mammals.

They evolved from dog-like creatures over 50 million years ago into the animals that they are now. We are still discovering new species too, the most recent of which is the Rice’s Whale found in the north-eastern Gulf of Mexico. We know so very little about them, how they got that big, how do they eat enough to survive, and will they survive the onslaught of mankind. Nick Pyenson’s research has been looking at these and many other questions and this book is part of that story.

The begins in space of all places where he mentions that the Voyager spacecraft both carry sounds from our planet and one of those sounds is whale song. Not that anyone on this planet has been able to decipher these mournful squeaks and moans. However, they have discovered lots about the sounds, how they can travel vast distances across the ocean and that humpback songs are incredibly complex. The book is split into three sections, the first part is looking at the fossil records of whales tracing back (as much as they can) to the original species that decided that going back to the oceans was in its best interest. Ironically the best places to find whale bones in nowhere near the sea, rather it is in the driest parts of our planet; former sea beds that have been thrust high because of tectonic plate movement over thousands of years.

The second part of the book is about the whales we have here and now and how a mammal can get that big, how it breathes, feeds and thrives in the ocean. It was a bit grim as part of his research takes him onto a whaling ship where these magnificent creatures are harpooned, hauled out and slaughtered for pure greed from what I can make out. In this bloody mess though he does make a discovery about a sensory organ that now one new existed. The final part of the book is about the possible futures that whales might have. We have been particularly cruel to them, slaughtering millions of them and driving a few species to the very brink of extinction, but there is a glimmer of hope, provided we understand the interconnectedness of the ocean inhabitants.

I didn’t think that this was too bad overall. It is quite readable and full of interesting and fascinating anecdotes on whales. I thought that the prose was a little dry, but he is an academic more used to writing research papers and grant applications rather than popular science books. That said, there were parts that showed wry humour and a little humanity. It is a good introduction to whales if you have never read anything about them before.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 3.5, but this book teetered between more exciting descriptions of expeditions the author had been on to sections which were pretty dry and academic.

If you are interested in whales, especially Orca, read Carl Safina's books. His intensity and beautiful writing made this book suffer by comparison IMHO.

When I first started the book I saw the three main sections, past, present, and future and thought this would be organized as such, but it seemed to skip around. Given that Pyenson is a Paleontologist, I thought the first part would be his wheelhouse and I'd hear the enthusiasm, but it builds then drops off. If he could have written more with the passion I saw in his discussion of discovering the sensory organ in the whale's chin in Iceland (pg. 154) I'd have rated much higher.