Whales & Dolphins

by Tom Jackson

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

"I'm a non-fiction author and project editor (plus I do a bit of journalism). I'm available for project development, writing, project management and I also work as a packager. Click on the links above to see examples of my work.

But first some background: Over the last 20 years, I've written books, magazine and newspaper articles, for online and for television. I get to write about a wide range of subjects, everything from axolotls to zoroastrianism. However, my specialties are natural history, technology and all things scientific. I've worked on projects with Brian May, Patrick Moore, Marcus de Sautoy and Carol Vorderman and for major international publishers, such as Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Scholastic, Hachette, Facts on File and BBC Magazines.

I spend my days finding fun ways of communicating all kinds of facts, new and old, to every age group and reading ability. I live in Bristol, England, with my wife and three children. I studied zoology at Bristol University and have had spells working at the zoos in Jersey and Surrey. I used to be something of a conservationist, which included planting trees in Somerset, surveying Vietnamese jungle and rescuing buffaloes from drought-ridden Zimbabwe. Writing jobs have also taken me to the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon rainforest, the coral reefs of Indonesia and the Sahara Desert. Nowadays, I can be found mainly in the attic."
~http://tomjackson.weebly.com/

Reviews

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to helping me understand the difference between different species of dolphins and whales, this book has really beautiful photos.

Oltre ad aiutarmi a capire la differenza tra le varie specie di delfini e di balene, questo libro ha delle foto veramente bellissime.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Jenn Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the photographs in the book. It was so beautiful and included whales and dolphins that I wasn't familiar with. The information is interesting and written like captions on the photos which I love.

4 stars

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

My childhood answer to ‘If you could be an animal, what would you be?’ was a dolphin. Every time. I’ve never grown out of my love for them.

It makes my day whenever I get to see a pod of dolphins playing in the waves when I’m walking on the beach. I’ve come to love whales as well and look forward to seeing them migrate up and down the coast.

A photography book featuring whales, dolphins, other toothed whales and porpoises was always going to find me. I enjoyed the fun facts.

The water spout puffed from the blue whale’s nostril-like blowholes rises 10m (32.8ft) above the surface.

I was really here for the photography, though. The photos weren’t as jaw dropping as I’d hoped but I was introduced to a number of species I hadn’t heard of before. I’m currently most interested in meeting a Pacific white-sided dolphin.



Photo credit: Louie Lea

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Amber Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books brings the most amazing, high-quality pictures to animal lovers. Most of the previous volumes were set in a variety of environments that showed off a full palette of colors. Since this one is set in the oceans (and some freshwater rivers), you would think that it wouldn’t be as colorful. You’d be wrong. Yes, blue is the most prominent color, but there are so many different tones, that I just wanted to dive in it. The subjects are fascinating. Whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine mammals, feature not only their behavior and biology, but include brief outlines of their most remarkable characteristics. There is the birth of a beluga calf, a sleeping whale and an impressive shot of a human swimming next to a sperm whale and her calf. It is mind-blowing to see the difference in sizes. This book includes so many species, from orcas, bottlenose dolphins and other well-known mammals, to belugas, narwhals and other most mysterious denizens of the deep. I learned so much and I enjoyed looking at these beautiful photographs.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Amber Books.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whales & Dolphins by Tom Jackson is a beguiling book loaded with information on some of the most fascinating creatures in our world. The 180 photographs are breathtaking and enable the reader to get close and personal when we rarely otherwise would. Porpoises are included, too.

The Celacea order is an impressive one with the most massive creatures in existence, not to mention some of the most intelligent. Communication (such as pec slap), eating, behaviors, movement and longevity are discussed.

Some information which is new to me is that sperm whales sleep vertically four hours at a time, closest relatives are hippos and Bryde's whales produce bubble nets. It was a joy to learn more about toothed whales, bowhead whales, short-beak and long-beak dolphins. Interestingly, a few sport colours and patterns I didn't realize existed.

My sincere thank you to Amber Books Ltd. and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this engrossing book.

[kendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Whales and Dolphins" a disappointing read that falls extremely short of a wonderful dive into the world of cetaceans. From the first page it felt…off. I truly wonder if it is written by AI or is just so poorly written, and understood, that it seems to be AI. The amount of sentences that begin with adverbs…so overly used, it was distracting and is one reason it reads like AI. One paragraph had two sentences in a row that started with “however,…”.

The imagery throughout the book is not always the highest quality, with one image of killer whales being a poorly photoshopped image of captive killer whales Katina and Kalina plastered onto a wild backdrop. One “image” of a narwhal is not actually an image, but a 3D drawing. A few other orca images are also of captive orcas Katina and Wikie. It would be ideal for a book to use photos of wild whales when discussing wild whales. Some dolphin, pilot whale, and beluga whale images are also from captive facilities. An image of a humpback whale is even misidentified as a blue whale, a baleen whale identified as a sperm whale, and a bottlenose dolphin as a rough toothed dolphin. This undermines all credibility of the book. Inaccurate information regarding different species in the book also tarnishes the credibility.

I do not recommend this book and if you are a reader looking for an informative and actually enjoable red about cetaceans, along with great images and illustrations, I would suggest looking at, “Handbook of Whales, Dolphins, and Porposises of the World” by Mark Carwardine and/or “Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises” by Erich Hoyt.

I received a free ARC via NetGalley for this book. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author

[Lecy Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fascinated by cetaceans, so I was thrilled to read this book. I'll preface this by saying that I read a digital copy and it looks like the published version is meant to be like a coffee table book. I think it would be better to read this as a physical book because, in the digital copy, the text was tiny compared to the photos and I was constantly zooming in and out. The images are stunning. The book lets you see and learn about all types of whales and dolphins. However, the writing was bland. Overall, I enjoyed seeing all the photos of these amazing creatures. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve loved whales my entire life, so I had to read this book. And it’s fantastic. It’s full of stunning photography and interesting, informative captions. The book shows a variety of whales, dolphins, and porpoises doing different things. It would make a great coffee table book or gift for a cetacean lover. :) You can look at any part of the book and see a great photo and learn something cool. It comes out May 14. Thank you to Amber Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gorgeous coffee table book offers more than 200 pages of photos of dolphins, whales, and porpoises. The text consists mostly of photo captions, but still, I learned about species I hadn’t heard of before. Anyone with an interest in cetaceans will love this visually beautiful and stimulating book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Ciara E]

I learned:
—sperm whales sleep vertically
—whales can get lice
—belugas shed a green fatty layer in the warmer months
—narwhals touch horns to communicate “chemically”
—whaling for oil was banned just in the 1980s
—orcas are godless killers