Whales & Dolphins of the North American Pacific from WILDGuides

Foreword by Bernardo Alps, ACS Los Angeles Chapter president

As a young boy, I spent countless hours with my illustrated guide to the mammals of the world, imagining in great detail how I would encounter many of the charismatic animals in the photos. I would safari in Africa and see majestic Elephants, I would stalk the Jaguar in the jungles of South America, and I would watch Brown Bear cubs playing in the mountains of Europe. But I always skipped the section on whales. Whales were too elusive and their habitats were too remote, I couldn't really imagine ever seeing a whale.

Soon after moving to Southern California in the early 1980s, the words WHALE WATCHING caught my eye in a small ad in a local newspaper. I was incredulous. One could actually go out and see a whale?

I remember that trip like it was yesterday. A storm front was just on its way out, the storm clouds still hanging in the sky like tattered stage curtains as we headed out on the RV Vantuna. While still in the harbor, the captain maneuvered the boat close to an orange navigational buoy on which a group of chocolate brown California Sea Lions had hauled out. If the trip had ended after that encounter, I would have gone home a happy camper, it was an amazing experience to see these wild animals at such close range. Just under an hour later, we found a pair of Gray Whales bravely making their way north through the foam-topped breakers. We followed them for as long as we could, watching them thrust the tops of their heads out of the water to exhale, having their blows immediately carried away by the stiff breeze, before rolling forward and thrusting their majestic flukes out of the water to signal a deeper dive. Finally, on our way back to port, we came across a pod of several hundred Long-beaked Common Dolphins, just as the battle of the late afternoon sun and the lingering storm clouds produced a magnificent rainbow.

That magical day led me to take hundreds more trips, each just as unforgettable and spectacular in one way or another. Some were only a couple of hours long, others took a whole day and some were a week or more, but there has never been a trip that I would call a disappointment. I soon realized that whales and dolphins possess many attributes that make them ideal candidates for observation. They are beautiful, powerful, diverse, graceful, and distinctive. Even while watching the same species of cetacean there are always new behaviors and interactions to surprise the observer. These trips also showed me that whales and dolphins bring out something special in humans. Their intelligence and social bonds suggest a strong kinship, yet they inhabit a world that is as different from ours as we can imagine.

And so watching whales turned me into a dedicated worker for conservation of marine mammals, the marine environment and the planet, through the American Cetacean Society (ACS). ACS is the oldest marine mammal conservation organization in the world, operating since 1967, when a group of concerned citizens got together to try and find a way to help end world hunger. They pondered on the idea of farming whales as a source of protein, but quickly realized that the whales themselves were in dire straights and needed saving. Since that time, whale watching has played a pivotal role in ACS's approach to conservation. The organization had its first official whale watching trip a week after being founded, and still offers many outstanding excursions annually to destinations throughout the North American Pacific. We encourage people to encounter these charismatic creatures, an experience which we hope will influence them as voters, citizens and consumers. In some cases, like my own, it can even compel people to pursue an active role in marine conservation.

This guide is the best possible tool to aid field identification for both a novice and a veteran whale watcher. It uses state of the art technology to combine a wide variety of excellent photos on plates that clearly show the different ways in which each species might show itself to an observer, accompanied with detailed and upto- date information. But its use extends well beyond that of a 'typical' field guide. It is the perfect gift for someone who hasn't even begun considering a whale watching trip, with accounts of days on the water that are sure to be an inspiration. It also covers all practical aspects of planning a successful whale watching excursion, and after the trip is long over, this book will serve as a valuable reference on marine mammals and their environment, to be consulted over and over.

Whales and Dolphins of the North American Pacific therefore belongs in every wheelhouse, whether it be a vessel that looks for marine mammals or encounters them by chance; in the pack of every passenger on a whale watching boat or cruise ship; in the glove box of every car that rolls onto a ferry or drives along the coast; in every school library; and under the tree of every nature lover.