“A fascinating account of the history as well as the enduring mysteries of one of the world’s most amazing creatures.”—Eric Jay Dolin“Most whale books turn into sagas. It’s the nature of the beast. One could hardly expect anything less from a book on the great blue whale. Dan Bortolotti turns his considerable journalistic skills to chronicling the blue whale saga. Spellbinding superlatives abound. Written with authority, insight, and compassion, Wild Blue reveals for the first time the big picture on the blue whale story.”—Erich Hoyt, author of Creatures of the Deep“I have always been a stickler for accuracy, and I am delighted to report that Dan Bortolotti got everything right; from the inner workings of the largest of all cetaceans to the history of international whaling, where one of the goals appeared to be the elimination of the blue whale from the world’s oceans. Wild Blue is not only about the awesome capabilities of this magnificent creature, it is also an important history of animal killing for profit and a reflection on the future of wild animals in a world dominated by man.”—Richard Ellis, author of The Book of Whales and Men and Whales“In his chronicle of the great blue whales, which range across each of our planetary oceans from the North Atlantic to Antarctica, Dan Bortolotti eloquently describes both their grandeur and the ongoing threats to their future. Hunted to the edge of elimination in many regions, blue whales must still continue to swim a gauntlet of underwater noise and climatic impacts, even as scientists are only beginning to learn where they travel to give birth. The author provides us with an accurate history and up-to-date science on the greatest leviathan this planet has ever known.”— Dick Russell, author of Eye of the Whale“With prodigious research and lucid—sometimes eloquent—writing, Bortolotti tells three great stories in this book. First is the tragedy of how human greed and technological ingenuity came close to annihilating our planet’s largest animal, turning hundreds of thousands of these majestic creatures into margarine, soap, pet food, fertilizer, and other industrial commodities. Second is an engaging mystery story, in which the author leads us deep into the living research of the modern scientific detectives who are attempting to understand these beings that only a few people can ever hope even to glimpse. Finally is the coda, that shows us the interconnections between the future of the blue whale and our own species’ roles on the blue planet.”—H. Bruce Franklin, author of The Most Important Fish in the Sea"Balancing comfortably on the cusp between popular and scientifically detailed narrative, Bortolotti summarizes our current knowledge concerning the blue whale. He engages readers with a smooth writing style and a storyteller's easeful tempo . . . A lively, thorough and judicious survey of the species Melville described as ', fugitive, half-fabulous.'"—Kirkus Reviews
Dan Bortolotti has published seven books of nonfiction, including Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders, and has twice been nominated for the Science in Society Book Award, given by the Canadian Science Writers’ Association. His writing has appeared in more than two dozen magazines in North America. He lives with his family just outside of Toronto.
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