Dolphin Confidential
Confessions of a Field Biologist
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A “compelling” up-close memoir of a career spent among marine mammals and a portrait of the daily lives of dolphins (Publishers Weekly).
Working among charismatic and clever dolphins in the wild is a unique thrill—and this book invites us shore-bound dreamers to join Maddalena Bearzi as she travels alongside them. In a fascinating account, she takes us inside the world of a marine scientist and offers a firsthand understanding of marine mammal behavior, as well as the frustrations and delights that make up dolphin research.
Bearzi recounts her experiences at sea, tracing her own evolution as a woman and a scientist from her earliest travails to her transformation into an advocate for conservation and dolphin protection. These compelling, in-depth descriptions of her fieldwork also present a captivating look into dolphin social behavior and intelligence. Drawing on her extensive experience with the metropolitan bottlenose dolphins of California in particular, she offers insights into the daily lives of these creatures—as well as the difficulties involved in collecting the data that transforms hunches into hypotheses and eventually scientific facts. The book closes by addressing the critical environmental and conservation problems facing these magnificent, socially complex, highly intelligent, and emotional beings.
“Pairing vivid images of bottlenose dolphins swimming together and caring for one another with descriptions of the meticulous scientific work required to record their behavior, Maddalena Bearzi sheds light on the life of a field biologist…A beautifully written account.”—Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Contrary to this memoir's scintillating title, Bearzi (founder of the Los Angeles Dolphin Project and coauthor of Beautiful Minds: The Parallel Lives of Great Apes and Dolphins) has little to confess beyond her "deep love and appreciation for wildlife." She offers a compelling tale of her career, all written in arresting present tense, and her close observations of dolphin behavior within it reveal more about the security of an individual who followed her passion than deep insights into dolphin culture. Bearzi wants to inspire others to become involved with conservation, as "this intimate life with dolphins, whales, and other creatures has left a profound and beautiful impression." In addition, she hopes to teach "lessons of humility" regarding "humanity's conceit and insatiable greed." Anecdotes of dolphins mourning, feeding, and behaving heroically remind the reader of the commonalities and differences in these sea creatures and ourselves, a comparison Bearzi knows all too well: "They don't perform to our species standard, and one should value them for who they really are." In this tale of intellectual pursuit and study, Bearzi asks the reader to do as she has done while also working for the animals' protection: "The more I learn about my fellow animals, the more I feel the need to protect them in their natural state."
