When an 80-ton fin whale became trapped in a lagoon near his Newfoundland home, Farley Mowat rejoiced at the unique chance to observe one of the world's most magnificent creatures up close. But some of his neighbors saw a different opportunity altogether: in a prolonged fit of violence, they blasted the whale with rifle fire, and scarred its back with motorboat propellers. Mowat appealed desperately to the police, to marine biologists, finally to the press. But it was too late. Mowat's poignant and compelling story is an eloquent argument for the end of the whale hunt, and the rediscovery of the empathy that makes us human.
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An eighty-ton whale became trapped in a lagoon near Mowat's home in Burgeo, Newfoundland, in 1967, and Mowat relates how some of the townspeople tried to shoot it with rifles, and how he tried to save it by contacting the press, government, and scientists. He describes the history of the town, the characteristics of whales, the tragedy of whale hunting, his experiences whale watching with his uncle, and what finally happened to the whale. Mowat is a writer and environmentalist, and the book was originally published in 1972. It has an afterword added in 2005. Distributed in the US by PGW/Perseus. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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