[MARMAM] New Book - The Urban Whale: North Atlantic Right Whales at the Crossroads

[Andrew Battle]

New from Harvard University Press

The Urban Whale: North Atlantic Right Whales at the Crossroads
Edited By Scott D. Kraus and Rosalind M. Rolland
Harvard University Press / February 2007 / $55.00
543 pages, 34 color illustrations, 116 halftones, 48 line 
illustrations, 21 tables

In 1980 a group of scientists censusing marine mammals in the Bay of 
Fundy was astonished at the sight of 25 right whales. It was, one 
scientist later recalled, "like finding a brontosaurus in the 
backyard." Until that time, scientists believed the North Atlantic 
right whale was extinct or nearly so. The sightings electrified the 
research community, spurring a quarter century of exploration, which 
is documented here.

The authors present our current knowledge about the biology and 
plight of right whales, including their reproduction, feeding, 
genetics, and endocrinology, as well as fatal run-ins with ships and 
fishing gear. Employing individual identifications, acoustics, and 
population models, Scott Kraus, Rosalind Rolland, and their 
colleagues present a vivid history of this animal, from a once 
commercially hunted commodity to today's life-threatening challenges 
of urban waters.

Hunted for nearly a millennium, right whales are now being killed by 
the ocean commerce that supports our modern way of life. This book 
offers hope for the eventual salvation of this great whale.

For more information, including table of contents. see 
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/KRAURB.html.

-- 
Andrew Battle
Publicity Department

Harvard University Press
79 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Visit the publicity blog
http://harvardpress.typepad.com
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