Whaling Season: A Year in the Life of an Arctic Whale Scientist (INSCRiBED COPY)
by: Peter Lourie

Hardcover. Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin, 1st, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 80 pages in color. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR on the title page. Lourie skillfully describes the delicate three-way relationship that exists among the Inupiat of Alaska, the bowhead whales, and the scientists who are there to collect data and study the animals. The Inupiat have hunted bowheads for thousands of years and their very existence depends upon the harvesting of the leviathans. The scientists are there to determine whether the whaling done by these communities is sustainable and not decimating the bowhead population. Using a day-in-the-life format, Lourie follows one particular scientist, John Craighead George, as he goes about collecting the necessary data. The biologist is careful not to disturb the integrity of the harvest and, in fact, works closely with the Inupiat to do what he needs to do. Interwoven throughout this daylong saga are historical information, scientific facts, and cultural tradition. Crisp color photographs on every page provide a lush complement to the engaging, informative text. Young readers will come away with a stronger appreciation of the bowhead whales, the people who both hunt and respect them, and the scientists who straddle the traditional and modern worlds to gather important information. Clean copy.