Beneath the Surface
Hargrove, JohnKiller whales, aka blackfish, aka orca. John Hargrove's childhood ambition to be a trainer of these largest members of the dolphin family, was fulfilled in the SeaWorld theme parks for more than a decade. However, what began as a dream job deteriorated into a nightmare as he came to understand the cruelty, under the guise of conservation, of their captivity.
Compelling and informative, this is a thought-provoking story that celebrates orca while documenting the transition of a professional trainer to a passionate animal rights advocate.
Pages
273
273
Year
2015
2015
Reviews
15-11-2023
Very interesting book - surprising relevance to current events.
03-04-2023
Learning about the orcas was interesting and thought provoking. However we did not feel that the information was well presented. There was a lot of repetition and the book was at times too detailed and too focused on the author.
02-08-2021
Very informative . On the whole the group felt this well worth reading from an animal welfare perspective. Some found it difficult to warm to the author.
08-03-2019
This book prompted a lot of group discussion, as it was a topic none of us had considered in depth prior to reading the book. We were all saddened by the plight of the orca in captivity. We were amazed by the intelligence and family structure of free whales.
28-02-2019
It raises awareness of the keeping of animals in captivity, and touched on ethical problems from fish to farming. We found the chronological jumping about and the repetitions annoying.
15-02-2019
Half the group did not read this book, BUT those that did found it very interesting and informative. A real eye opener on money versus animal welfare.