In 1967, an eighty-ton pregnant fin whale became trapped in a shallow saltwater pond near the remote fishing village of Burgeo, Newfoundland. Farley Mowat, who was living in the community at the time, attempted to organize a rescue effort to save the stranded leviathan. However, local residents viewed the trapped mammal as a target for amusement, repeatedly firing rifles into its back and slicing it with motorboat propellers. Mowat details his desperate struggle against both the logistical difficulties of the rescue and the aggressive hostility of neighbors who treated the whale’s slow death as a public spectacle.
This memoir is written for environmentalists and readers of natural history who seek a blunt examination of the human capacity for cruelty toward the natural world. It serves those interested in the cultural clash between traditional maritime societies and early conservationist movements. Readers finish the book with a dark understanding of the ecological consequences of human apathy. It provides a historical account of how public indifference can thwart individual activism, shifting the reader's perspective on the fragility of large marine life when confronted by localized human violence.
Clear-cut; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1972
- Language
- EN
