Watching Giants: The Secret Lives of Whales

This is really a book about perspective and scale. Kelsey narrates her essays from the voice of a mother watching her children grow up in a world that is at once very small and mind-bogglingly huge. It's a different sort of nature book than man alone in the woods or a clinical study, very human and thoughtful. The essays cover topics from very specific studies of sperm whale diets to holistic assessments of the health of our oceans and what we can do to stop it. She covers a variety of myths (including distressing theories about pre-whaling population numbers of whales and what it truly means to be a recovered species) and takes a critical look at bandaid solutions like “dolphin free” tuna. Even as something of a cetacean nerd, I learned a few new facts from this book, and it definitely heightened my perspective of how big whale culture is and how big an effect humans can have on it. Highly recommended for ocean enthusiasts and anyone wanting to take a large scale look at our environmental practices.