Cognition, Culture, Conservation and Human Perceptions
Philippa Brakes
Mark Peter Simmonds
256 pages, 234 x 156 mm
Publisher:
Earthscan from Routledge
Whales and dolphins are icons for the conservation movement. They are the most conspicuous ambassadors for entire marine ecosystems and possibly even for the biosphere as a whole. Concurrent with our realisation of impending threats to their environment is a growing scientific understanding of the social and cognitive complexity of many of these species.
This book brings together experts in the relevant diverse fields of cetacean research, to provide authoritative descriptions of our current knowledge of the complex behaviour and social organisation of whales and dolphins. The authors consider this new information in the context of how different human cultures from around the world view cetaceans and their protection, including attitudes to whaling. They show how new information on issues such as cetacean intelligence, culture and the ability to suffer, warrants a significant shift in global perceptions of this group of animals and how these changes might be facilitated to improve conservation and welfare approaches.
1. Why Whales, Why Now? Part 1: Whales in Human Cultures.
2. Impressions: Whales and Human Relationships in Myth, Tradition, and Law.
3. Whales of the Pacific
4. Whales in Latin America.
5. Whales and the USA.
6. Whales in the Balance: To Touch or To Kill? A View of Caribbean Attitudes toward Whales.
7. The British and the Whales.
8. Whales in Norway.
9. Of Whales, Whaling and Whale Watching in Japan: a Conversation.
10. A Contemporary View of the International Whaling Commission. Part 2: The Nature of Whales and Dolphins.
11. The Nature of Whales and Dolphins.
12. Brain Structure and Intelligence in Cetaceans.
13. Communication.
14. Lessons from Dolphins.
15. Highly Interactive Behaviour of Inquisitive Dwarf Minke Whales.
16. The Cultures of Whales and Dolphins. Part 3: New Insights; New Challenges.
17. Whales and Dolphins on a Rapidly Changing Planet.
18. From Conservation to Protection: Charting a New Conservation Ethic for Cetaceans.
19. What is it Like to be a Dolphin?
20. Thinking Whales and Dolphins.
21. Acknowledgements.
22. Authors' Biographies
Philippa Brakes is a marine biologist, specialising in marine mammal welfare and the ethical issues associated with our interactions with cetaceans and their environments. She has served as an expert on cetacean welfare issues and whaling policy with the New Zealand Government delegation to the International Whaling Commission, as well as serving as an informal adviser to other Government and non-Government delegations; as a lecturer in Zoological Conservation Management; as Marine Advisor to the RSCPA; and as the Curator of a British Zoological Gardens.
Mark Peter Simmonds is an environmental scientist specialising in the problems facing marine mammals in the 21st century. He is currently the International Director of Science at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
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