This book has been a great reading experience. Thanks to the author and the publisher for bringing this book to life.

As many people know, my favorite book is Moby Dick. But my passion for the history of whaling doesn't stop me from opposing it. Whaling is cruel, unnecessary, and destructive.

The interesting thing about Death of a Whale by Captain Paul Watson is the focus on conservation clashing with indigenous groups. Sea Shepherd's Watson admits it's a controversial struggle. Because if you oppose whaling that means no one should kill whales, right? And yet there are many who say whaling is 100% wrong unlessssss...

Some indigenous groups advocate for their right to kill whales because their ancestors used to hunt whales. This threatens multiple species that flirt with endangerment and extinction, species which are among the most intelligent and socially complex on earth. These groups argue they must hunt whales in order to live off the meat and other products, although they have managed to live without them for generation after generation. To add to the injustice, many of these groups are assisted in their petitions by whaling interests in other countries. Because once one group is allowed to kill whales, it makes it that much harder to tell other groups (like commercial whaling fleets) no.

This is not a comforting book but it opened my eyes to some of the serious complexities facing whale conservation and I'm very glad I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this thought provoking book.

Interesting book to read and learn from. Great read for those interested in protecting whales very well written

First of all, i just wanna say, "Wow!" this story blew me away for being such a controversial and intensed read!. My heart couldn't stop racing quickly and my minds couldn't help thinking and anticipating what's coming up or going to happen next! It is like watching heart-pumping and blood boiling scenes,one after another with all those actions,accusations and arguments.

I admit that the provocative title of the book caught my attention and i got this urge to wanting to read it as from the title itself already shows or hinted as to how controversial this story is going to be/turn out. And yes, i was right. The story is very controversial. Captain Paul Watson and his teams are also very controversial.

Secondly, what drew me to this book and the story is my strong interest in the cetaceans. Infact, you could say that i am pretty obsessed with the ocean and anything related with it,including its inhabitants. Besides, i didn't know much about the whaling industry.So, i got exactly what i am looking for from this book.Infact, so much more than i can chew, digest or handle as i was taken on an endless rides and pursuits of the whale saving actions,one after another on a global or international scale!.

No matter how exciting those sea-faring adventures were, at times i find the measures and actions taken by Captain Paul Watson and The Sea Shepherd to be pretty bold and extreme leaving me gawking in utter shock and disbelief. I couldn't believe or expected them to daringly break into other country's international waters/land, tresspassed their whaling ships and destroyed their whaling machineries/equipments just to save the whales!.

However, Captain Paul Watson and his team managed to tone down my anxiety a little with their justifiable reasonings for their extreme measures and actions. However, i did not always agree or support with everything they do. In the end, I just sort of get it and understand their standpoints and motives.

The other points that i find pretty interesting raised in this book is the arguments and debates regarding the Makah Nation's argumentation that they were attacked by Paul and his team on the basis of their race .So that is why, the Sea Shepherd tried to stop them for implementing their ancestral rights to whaling which have long been part of their cultural traditions from taking place again. Paul even dedicated a few chapters just to discuss and justify/counter-argued on this matter which i find to be eye-opening and would make a pretty interesting and provocative topic for a discussion/debate.

In conclusion,despite all of those chaos and mayhems,this is one of the books that successfully leaving me with all sorts of emotional turmoils within me. The book also manage to open my eyes to those issues that i never knew much before and got me thinking a lot about the importance of our contribution in saving the ocean's environment. In the end, controversial or not,what strucked me the most were their strong and endless dedications towards protecting the ocean inhabitants and in saving those whales.

If you asked me whose side am i on? the whale or the Sea Shepherd?. I'd say that of course i side with the whales and anyone who are willing to fight for their safety and their survival!. If i were the Sea Shepherd myself, i'd do just the same if that's the only way to protect or to save the whales!.

I first learned about Paul Watson via the docu-series Whale Wars, so was intrigued to see this book on Netgalley, and quickly requested it. It's taken me quite a while to finish as a non fiction book, I've read a chapter at a time, as I felt a little overwhelmed at times with the descriptive nature of the writing. I don't mean this in a negative way!

Anyone familiar with Whale Wars will know about Sea Shepherd's former annual trip to Antarctica to actively oppose the Japanese hunt for minke whales. This book, I knew, wouldn't be about that and I was interested to find out more. What I discovered was a thought provoking essay on more than just anti-whaling. I especially enjoyed the first couple of chapters on Paul Watson's background in activism, I wasn't aware of his involvement with Wounded Knee in 1973 for example, or even that he is Metis, and it was nice to have a little context and history to his work.

We then took a deep dive into the Makah people and their historical tradition of whaling. After many, many years of not whaling at all, they were granted permission to whale again and successfully killed one whale in the late 90s. Whilst I personally side with Sea Shepherd here, that one whale is too many, especially considering the awful methods used to kill the whales; there are other groups of people who kill many, many more whales (hello, Faroe Islands!) which may have been more deserving of having this spotlight on them. I am fully aware that Sea Shepherd have been to the Faroes to oppose the pilot whale slaughter, which is also in the name of "tradition" but it didn't get a mention here.
Later this book descended into a history of
racism and slavery vs traditions which
ended with the classic "I don't see colour" statement, which, (bare in mind here that I'm very much anti whaling) did no favours for the argument he's trying to make and honestly made me recoil. 
I'd like to read more on the work of Sea Shepherd and Paul Watson but this book isn't going to encourage that for me at least.

Captain Paul Watson is no stranger to controversy, but this particular conflict was more personal than most. Narrated as events unfolded, his latest book is a fascinating and thought-provoking account of a 1998 Sea Shepherd campaign to protect gray whales from slaughter by members of the Makah Nation of the Pacific Northwest who had recently invoked ancestral hunting rights. This electrifying, real-life adventure story showcases an Indigenous community at odds with itself, governments and media that advance their own agendas, and grassroots organizers who display heroic activism. Conservationists, eco-warriors, whale protectors, and supporters of Indigenous traditions—as well as anyone who simply loves a good story—will find themselves captivated by this tale.

While I never expected to read a memoir about Captain Paul Watson of international infamy, I found myself a bit nostalgic when we could focus on those smaller battles for protecting species and lands rather than our lives (during a pandemic!) and the planet. I might be a bit naive in saying that, but I also grew up with smaller battles before facing these catastrophic events head on as an adult with an adult's mindset. I used to watch Whale Wars from my preteen years to high school. I learned a lot about animal life and conservation through shows like Captain Watson’s at a young age.

The fight for anti-whaling seemed so straightforward and still does, but there were still issues faced by anti-whaling advocates. This is just one book among others, written by a man who's seen as an eco-terrorist (although I’m hard-pressed to see him as one for many reasons), about a time when he and other like-minded people tried to conserve whale lives in the face of international scrutiny. The argument was cultural tradition versus modern eco-conservatism, despite many of the indigenous elders opposing the whale hunt. I don’t take everything Watson says to heart, but I do think he usually tries to follow a code that protects oceanic species from human hunters.

When I requested this book i'll admit I was not prepared for what came next. The writing is so moving and so descriptive that I found myself having to put the book down. I tend to read books in one or two sittings. This one however, took five. At times I felt totally heartbroken that human beings could do such things. I cried many times. I don't mean the occasional tear either.

Although I say the book is heart breaking it is also inspiring. I suddenly feel the urge to join the campaign and throw myself in front of these monsters. Humans not the whales that is.

If this book was to create a topic of discussion then I feel it has met its purpose. What is worse that this could be the story of any wildlife under threat. All because something is alive it doesn't give us the right to hunt it down and kill it.

I absolutely loved the book even if its contents made me a puddle on the floor. More needs to be done to preserve these gentle giants. Who made us judge and executioner. If books like this make government's sit up and listen, well I'd buy everyone. After all, they were here first.

Fascinating memoir of Captain Paul Watson's fight for whales around the world. At times controversial, this book underlines Captain Watson's unending, selfless dedication to preserving those that cannot speak or fight for themselves. The book is at times heartbreaking, but at the same time inspiring - his accounts of close encounters with whales - in times of calm and of severe stress on the whales are poignant and underline the imperative that everything must be done to stop the assault on these beautiful creatures. Watson's fearless defense of the whales and his ingenious for gaining political and public attention for the issue really brings clarity to the reality that laws and policies alone are not enough for the whales or for any conservation or environmental issue.