Voices in the Ocean

Susan Casey's new book, subtitled "A journey into the wild and haunting world of dolphins," is not only an intriguing, sometimes troubling look at the way we humans relate to what is surely our favorite ocean animal, but also how dolphins relate to themselves and us.

Casey's mission, as she put it, is to capture "the strange, enduring, occasionally tragic and the often wonderful relationship between humans and dolphins," but as The New York Times review of her book points out, "Her story quickly takes an odd turn (some might say unsavory). A scientist drops acid with his cetacean charges; a London woman 'marries' a dolphin companion; a persistently aroused male bottle¬nose convinces his caretaker to give him regular manual stimulation. And that's not to mention the traffickers (especially in the Solomon Islands and Taiji, Japan), warlords and cult leaders."

But along the way, Casey's interviews with marine biologists and others with an intimate understanding of dolphin behavior provide us with new insights into dolphin conversations, their families and rearing their young, and their relationship to us. Any diver who reads Voices in the Ocean will enhance his or her love for dolphins, while recognizing that we all have a moral responsibility to see that dolphins don't suffer at the hands of callous profiteers.

Go to our Book Picks page to order Voices in the Ocean from Amazon. Undercurrent will get a commission on your purchase -- and anything else you purchase -- and we will donate our profits to important projects dedicated to saving our reefs and oceans.