Review of The Whale in Fact and Fiction (1967)

Review: The Whale in Fact and Fiction

Robert K. and Martha L. Moffett: Harlan Quist, 1967

Why go back and review a book written for the junior high school level in 1967? Because it’s a window to the past of cetology and the public. What did we know in 1967? Judging by this book, what we did know was sort of reasonably accurate, but what we didn’t know filled oceans.

First, the book itself: it’s episodic rather than a survey, with one chapter devoted largely to the Essex sinking and major chunks on the whaling industry and a selection of cetacean. The rorquals get their day: among other tidbits, the authors mention a harpooned blue whale 113 feet long and a reported 70-foot right whale. “The dolphin” and “the porpoise” get introduced (albeit without trying to break down the number of species), and the beluga and narwhal have their moments. The orca is praised for its intelligence (plus the story of Namu is included) but damned as a “cruel” and vicious predator.  The writing is good, the illustrations a decent selection, and, while whaling (like captivity) is not tied to any moral questions, the authors bemoan the overhunting and near-extinction of larger species. The history of whaling is the book’s most interesting and best-done section.  
The rest of the book is a selection of writing on whales, including a Japanese whaling tale, a humorous poem, a bit from Arthur C. Clarke’s novel The Deep Range, the diary of a whaling captain’s wife, and of course a bit of Melville.  It is, in summary, not a bad book for its intended audience in 1967.

Now, to what we knew, or what the authors believed true. According to this book:

·         The dwarf/pygmy sperm whales are regarded as one species, known only from strandings and never seen at sea.

·         The small cetaceans are all happy-go-lucky: no one knew some species can be, by our standards, murderous thugs.

·         The giant squid-sperm whale battles are not one-sided.

·         Orcas will stalk and try to kill humans deliberately.

·         Gray whales attack small boats on sight thinking they pose a threat. (News to the tourists who routinely pet them now).

·         Little was known of whale ancestry and evolution: the (misspelled) Archoeoceti get two pages.

·         The beaked whales are either too poorly known or not interesting, as they never get mentioned. Neither do the pilot whales. 

·         The bowhead is a less-used name for a type of right whale.

As I said, an interesting look back.