Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast of North America

Charles Melville Scammon

Paperback, ISBN: 978-1-59714-061-4, $16.95
336 pages (6 x 9)

A California Legacy Book

A reintroduction to the first detailed written account of whales and pinnipeds.

This volume—reprinted with a new foreword by whale expert Dick Russell—has long been a highly regarded classic of natural history writing. At the time of the book’s original publication, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that “no more devoted investigator of the whale and its habits ever existed than Captain Scammon.” Scammon’s Lagoon, in Baja California, is named after the captain in honor of his discovery of the favorite calving spot for gray whales.
    
Until this book’s publication in 1872, whales, dolphins, and other sea mammals were among the least known of the larger animals of North America. As the captain of a whaling ship, Scammon closely observed and made detailed measurements of the animals he was tracking. Despite the lack of sophisticated tools, Scammon was able to gather vital information, much of which has been confirmed by contemporary science. Russell, in his foreword, details the evolution of Scammon’s attitude from that of a whaler and profiteer to a pioneer conservationist with respect and admiration for the animals he studied.