Best Fiction Whale Book
If you want a great fast-reading fiction book about whales, look no further than Hank Searls’ book titled “Sounding“. This is a marvelous tale of a passionate, aging Sperm whale and his encounters with humans. I found this hidden gem at the thrift store, the cover of my book has a whale tale in a stormy sea, and the spine called out to me from the shelf. What a wonderful find! I read it while on a snorkeling trip to Florida… and although I LOVE snorkeling, I couldn’t hardly put this book down when I started it, so I spent some extra time in my beach chair devouring this amazing tale in-between swims.
Find it at your local library or book / thrift store. I haven’t been able to find this edition, there is a different cover edition that has red submarine cover art, though I like the 1982 version I have with a whale painting by Tom Hall. I can’t seem to find this book in any used book stores or thrift stores since around Denver… though I’ll keep my eye out, I’d love to have a copy to give.
One of my favorite things about the Sounding was how Searls describes how whales communicate with sonar, it’s really an eye-opening read that makes you think a little differently about everything. Amazing.