The whale: mighty monarch of the sea

The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

by Jacques-Yves Cousteau

English, French (translation)

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Reference, Animals

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Born in 1910, was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, and filmmaker, who studied the sea. Although he is most famous to us from his television programmes, he also co-developed the aqua-lung, and pioneered marine conservation as a political and scientific priority.
In the Calypso, an ex-Royal Navy minesweeper, Cousteau visited the most interesting waters of the planet. During these trips he produced many books and films. He gained three Oscars for; The Silent World, The Golden Fish, and World Without Sun, as well as many other top awards including the Palme d'Or in 1956 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician". He was in reality a sophisticated lover of nature who found a way of communicating complex scientific and biological concepts to ordinary people. While he was criticised at the time by some academics for failing to express science 'properly', his work permitted many people to explore the resources of the "blue continent". As an example of his influence, in 1975, folk singer John Denver composed the song "Calypso" as a tribute to Cousteau and his research ship Calypso. The song reached the number one position on the Billboard 100 charts.
Cousteau's work did a great deal to popularize knowledge of underwater biology and was featured in the long-lived documentary television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau which began in 1968. On January 11, 1996, the Calypso sank in Singapore harbour. Cousteau died on June 25, 1997 - his work is continued by his son Jean-Michel and his grandson Fabien, who studies sharks from a custom-built shark-shaped submarine.

Reviews

[Ludmila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may be outdated and a little disorganized (such as having a sequence about a pelican) but it is an exciting retelling of Calypso’s historic encounters with whales. I enjoyed it because it gives perspective on whaling history and what people thought of whales in the 60s and earlier. Plus a lot of nice photographs.

[Zuzana Wandlerová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, it is really outdated
However it still is astonishing book to read
It is great representation of time period when whales were still collecting themselves from those years of all those huge massacres and it is also the period when humanity knew very little about the greatest creatures on our planet

[Alexandr Iscenco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Довольно старенькие уже, но тем не менее занимательные заметки небезызвестного Жак-Ива Кусто о встречах с различными китами: кашалотами, серыми китами, горбачами и косатками. Организация заметок слегка хаотичная - события описываются без особой связи друг с другом - но сами заметки очень интересные, будучи насыщены наблюдениями и опытом команлы Кусто по взаимодействию со встреченными ею китообразными.

[Yacoob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kolumbus je má druhá nejoblíbenější československá edice a ani JYC nezklamal. Jen je na tom vidět, že je to přeci jen 50-60 let staré, takže z vědeckých metod francouzského týmu poněkud vstávají vlasy hrůzou na hlavě. Ale pokud i tahle troška pomohla k dosažení stavu, kdy v podstatě žádný velrybí druh dnes není na vymření, tak jen dobře.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Хорошее чтиво! Мне понравилось. Истории сопровождаются цветными фотографиями.
Книга пропитана любовью авторов к морскому миру.
Единственное, данные уже не совсем актуальны, но всё равно познавательно.

[Orca Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has Some very outdated info, but serves as a very interesting look into the work of some of the most important biologists in recent history.

[Mandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more about Cousteau's research than it is a book about whale biology, so that was a little disappointing to me personally, but obviously Cousteau was one of the pioneers in his field, so it's a fun read!

[Elena Traduzioni Oceano Mare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very pleasant reading, lots of things to learn about whales. What was kind of upsetting was the approach to the whales. Lots of harpooning and lots of different 'noises' techniques to bother the whales just to see their reactions and take pictures......... I guess they learned the hard way that whales do react. I lost track of how many times their Zodiacs were attacked and turned over......

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whales are in my top ten.

[Maynalg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating true life adventures told from a legendary marine biologist's experiences-- with photos!