When writer Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales reflect the condition of our oceans.

A gorgeous meditation on the awe-inspiring lives of whales, revealing what they can teach people about themselves, the planet, and humans' relationships to other species.

When Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales reflect the condition of our oceans. Here she blends natural history, philosophy, and science to learn about whales so rare they have never been named; whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet's atmosphere. She takes readers to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales, and delves into the deepest seas to discover how plastic pollution pervades our earth's undersea environment. Griggs outlines the challenges we face as we attempt to understand the perspectives of other living beings and our own place on an evolving planet. --