Product Description

This new field guide is a complete and convenient reference to every species of cetacean, pinniped and sirenian in the world, along with the Marine and Sea Otters and the Polar Bear. Every species is illustrated with magnificent colour paintings and a stunning collection of photographs, chosen to illustrate the key field marks which can be used to separate each species in the field. The author's unique depth of experience and knowledge, coupled with the artist's unrivalled skill, have come together to produce a neat, practical field guide that will enable any observer to quickly identify any mammals they may encounter at sea.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22567 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
"One of the most attractive, well-produced and comprehensive guides ever published 'Whales, Dolphins and Seals' is a tour de force for authors Hadoram Shirihai and artist Brett Jarrett." "The lavishly illustrated paperback is a delight, with Jarrett's exquisitely crafted paintings, copious colour photographs and a text that is well laid out and highly informative." "It really is a delightful book." Sunday Express (22nd October 2006) "A bargain at GBP12.99, this is an excellent buy and a must for cetacean lovers." Birdwatch (December 2006) "It is likely to become the definitive guide to these fascinating creatures." Saturday Guardian (25th November 2006) "An excellent book. The layout for the species pages is eye-catching but easy to read. There is a pleasing mix of photographs and and high quality artwork for each species together with texts that cover descriptions, behaviour, distribution and similar species. An invaluable field guide at a very reasonable price." BTO News (March/April 2007) "This beautifully illustrated and informative text has fast become the definitive guide to the marine mammals of the world." WDCS

Saturday Guardian, 25th November 2006
"It is likely to become the definitive guide to these fascinating
creatures."

BTO News, March/April 2007
"An excellent book. The layout for the species pages is
eye-catching but easy to read. There is a pleasing mix of photographs and
and high quality artwork for each species together with texts that cover
descriptions, behaviour, distribution and similar species. An invaluable
field guide at a very reasonable price."

Customer Reviews

One of the best nature book ever released.
This is one of the finest book about the topic, but in my opinion is also one of finest and best natural book ever published. If I can give 100 stars for rating, I would even give 99.
The whole book is close to perfect, the text is fantastic, the illustration are far the best which Ive seen (and I own most of the whale books which have been released) about sea mammals and they often show females, males, subadults, juveniles, subspecies (for example the killer whale has 2 whole pages of illustrations to show all the different anatarctic/arctic races). It includes many first ever published photographs (some of the best from the authors itself) and even almost every beaked whale species have one or more. I just wish that every family from the animal kingdom would get a good reference like this one.
When Im reading or sometimes just looking at the pages of this book I obviously feel that the authors show a lot of enthusiasm and respect to this creatures. Above the first class quality, this makes the book one of the best Ive ever read. Thanks for it.

The most handy field guide for cetaceans I've ever had!
Not that I have all the cetacean field guides available, but as soon as I read this book via my library loan, I knew that I wanted the book. For a starter, it included the newly established Orcaella heinsohni (Australian Snubfin dolphin) as a separate species to Orcaella brevirostris (Irrawaddy dolphin). Then, it also provides me the complete ID guidelines for the dolphin species I'm currently studying, i.e. Spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris, including the existing four subspecies (Hawaiian, dwarf/Southeast Asian, Eastern, and Central American spinners). It also specifically notes the dwarf minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) as a subspecies/allospecies aside from the Northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). I've bought it now from Amazon UK, and the book is highly recommended!

Absolutely essential for anyone interested in sea mammals
For a long time I have been searching for guides to help identify whales and dolphins in different parts of the world, but until recently there was very little practically-oriented literature available. In the last few years, that has changed and several groundbreaking regional identification guides are now available: for example Whales and Dolphins of the European Atlantic (Ocean Guides) and Whales and Dolphins of the North American Pacific. So the non-specialist or casual observer is now in with a fighting chance of identifying those dolphins seen on a coastal hike or whales encountered on a ferry crossing.

At the same time, several references on global marine mammals have appeared, of which Shirihai and Jarrett's compact guide is the best of the bunch. Why? First of all, this guide is compact. At under 400 pages, it is small enough to fit into a coat pocket, yet there is enough information to enable the user to identify (potentially) any marine mammal. So this volume is a true field guide. The book covers sirenians (manatees and dugongs), seals, coastal otters and other marine mammals as well as the cetaceans. The text is concise and emphasises key identification features, but there is still room for notes on behaviour and ecology. There are plenty of plates, both photographic and illustrated - all of them of very high quality. It is clear that author and artist have ample field experience have been able, through this book, to put this squarely at the disposal of the user. Finally, the book is printed on high quality glossy paper, which makes it a pleasure to leaf through at home.

So next time I am off on a trip with a chance of encountering whales or dolphins, I will be packing this handy guide in a addition to whatever regional guides I can get my hands on. Meanwhile, I am enjoying some armchair whale-watching as I leaf through the pages back home.

Chris Sharpe, 16 September 2008. ISBN: 0713670371