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  • Published: 15 June 2004
  • ISBN: 9780345442888
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $37.00

Listening to Whales

What the Orcas Have Taught Us



For twenty-five years, Alexandra Morton has been at the forefront of whale and dolphin research, dedicating her life to studying the language of whales. Here she shares what she has learned, her incredible adventures in the wilderness, the heartbreak she has endured, and the rewards of living her life on her own terms.

In Listening to Whales, Alexandra Morton shares spellbinding stories about her career in whale and dolphin research and what she has learned from and about these magnificent mammals. In the late 1970s, while working at Marineland in California, Alexandra pioneered the recording of orca sounds by dropping a hydrophone into the tank of two killer whales. She recorded the varied language of mating, childbirth, and even grief after the birth of a stillborn calf. At the same time she made the startling observation that the whales were inventing wonderful synchronized movements, a behavior that was soon recognized as a defining characteristic of orca society.

In 1984, Alexandra moved to a remote bay in British Columbia to continue her research with wild orcas. Her recordings of the whales have led her to a deeper understanding of the mystery of whale echolocation, the vocal communication that enables the mammals to find their way in the dark sea. A fascinating study of the profound communion between humans and whales, this book will open your eyes anew to the wonders of the natural world.

  • Published: 15 June 2004
  • ISBN: 9780345442888
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $37.00

About the author

Alexandra Morton

Born and raised in Connecticut, Alexandra Morton began her career in marine mammal research in 1976, when she moved to California to work for noted dolphin researcher, Dr. John C. Lilly. Since 1984 she has lived on the isolated central British Columbia coast, where she studies and records the language and habits of the various pods of orcas that swim the waters there.

Praise for Listening to Whales

"[Morton's] descriptions of [the whales'] lives and their haunting underwater communications are so vivid that they will remain with you long after you have read the last eloquent page. -- Jane Goodall