Read the back cover.Table of Contents
List of Plates
About the Author.
How to order ?
Read the back cover.
Table of Contents
List of Plates
About the Author.
How to order ?
"The intelligent dolphins, the giant whales and the inoffensive Dugong or Sea-cow are among the most fascinating creatures in the wild. Every aspect of their way of life is astonishing - some of them use sound to "see" in the water, some of them dive to incredible depths in search of food, and some of them sing complex songs. Marine mammals are so intriguing that worldwide there is a multi-million dollar industry in just watching these animals. Yet, in India few are aware that there are many of these creatures in the seas around the country - a full fourth of the world's 120 or so species, in fact. This is due to a lack of information; no book published so far covers this group of Indian wildlife adequately.
This book is meant for a wide range of readers including children, wildlife enthusiasts and serious students.
A significant part of the book is devoted to the more than 30 species accounts, making the book a useful reference. Glimpses of the lifestyles of marine mammals are given through several essays dealing, for example, with the phenomenon of mass strandings of whales or the reputed ferocity of the Killer Whale. Further, colour illustrations and character matrices meant for easy identification make the book a useful field guide, while the extensive bibliography makes it a valuable research aid. The accounts of whaling and threats faced by marine mammals highlight the conservation requirements of these animals."
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LIST OF PLATES xiii
FOREWORD xv
INTRODUCTION xvii
GLOSSARY xxi
KEY TO DESCRIPTIVE TERMS xxiii
CLASSIFICATION AND EVOLUTION OF MARINE MAMMALS 1
MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH IN INDIA 6
WHALING AND THE DECLINE OF WHALES 10
WHALE-WATCHING 16
Order CETACEA: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises 21
Suborder Odontoceti: Toothed Whales 23
The Big Bang Theory and Seeing with Sound 24
Family Delphinidae: Marine Dolphins 27
Rescued by Dolphins 29
The Intelligence of Dolphins 30
Rough-toothed Dolphin Steno bredanensis (Lesson 1828) 31
Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin Sousa chinensis 32
(Osbeck 1765)
Striped Dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen 1833) 36
Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata (Gray 1846) 37
Long-snouted Spinner Dolphin Stenella longirostris 39
(Gray 1828)
Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis (Linnaeus 1758) 42
Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 45
(Montagu 1821)
Fraser's Dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei (Fraser 1956) 49
Melon-headed Whale Peponocephala electra 51
(Gray 1846)
Irrawaddy Dolphin Orcaella brevirostris (Gray 1886) 52
False Killer Whale Pseudorca crassidens (Owen 1846) 55
Mass Strandings 58
Killer Whale Orcinus orca (Linnaeus 1758) 60
The Ferocity of the Killer Whale 62
Risso's Dolphin Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier 1812) 65
Short-finned Pilot Whale Globicephala macrorhynchus 66
(Gray 1846)
Pygmy Killer Whale Feresa attenuata (Gray 1827) 69
Undeceiving Ourselves 70
Family Phocoenidae: Porpoises 71
Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides 72
(G. Cuvier 1829)
Family Physteridae: Sperm Whales 76
Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus (Linnaeus 1758) 77
Deep Diving 81
Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps (Blainville 1838) 83
Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia simus (Owen 1866) 84
Family Ziphiidae: Beaked Whales 87
Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens 88
(Nishiwaki and Kamiya 1958)
Longman's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon pacificus 89
(Longman 1926)
Blainville's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon densirostris 90
(Blainville 1817)
Cuvier's Beaked Whale Ziphius cavirostris 91
(G. Cuvier 1823)
Southern Bottlenose Whale Hyperoodon planifrons 93
(Flower 1882)
Suborder Mysticeti: Baleen Whales 95
Longevity and age determination 97
Family Balaenopteridae: Rorquals 98
Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata 100
(Lacepede 1804)
Bryde's Whale Balaenoptera edeni (Anderson 1879) 102
Sei Whale Balaenoptera borealis (Lesson 1828) 103
Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus 1758) 106
Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus 1758) 108
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae 112
(Borowski 1781)
Whale sounds and songs 115
Table of unidentified baleen whales recorded in India 117
Family Balaenidae: Right Whales 122
Black Right Whale Balaena glacialis (Mueller 1776) 123
Order SIRENIA 125
Family Dugongidae: Dugong 126
Dugong Dugong dugon (Mueller 1776) 127
THREATS FACED BY MARINE MAMMALS 133
IDENTIFICATION AID 147
SOURCES 158
INDEX OF COMMON NAMES 175
INDEX OF LOCAL NAMES 178
INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES 179
Back to the topKumaran Sathasivam obtained his B Tech in Naval Architecture from IIT Madras in 1985. In 1989, he was awarded the M S (by research) in Entrepreneurship by IIT Madras. He taught Environmental Science at Kodaikanal International School.
His first book, A Forest in the City (CBT, New Delhi), won the first prize in the 1989 all-India competition "Our Environment". He has also published in journals like the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Blackbuck and Newsletter for Birdwatchers.
In 2002, as a Global Fellowship recipient, he studied marine mammals at Duke University Marine Laboratory in the USA. The status of marine mammals in Indian waters has motivated Kumaran to plan a marine mammal conservation network in India, to share information and help conserve them.
Back to the topTo order the book from the US, please email me (ksathasi@yahoo.com).
The price of the book is US $29.95, inclusive of shipping. (Check the
price in your local currency using the
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Shipping to destinations in the US will be by USPS Priority Mail with Tracking/Delivery Confirmation.
Shipping to destinations outside the US will be by USPS Global Priority Mail where available, and USPS Global Airmail everywhere else. Please note, there is no Tracking or Delivery Confirmation available with these services.
We can explore other options such as Registered Mail or Fedex, but there will definitely be an additional shipping charge.
If you are in India, you can visit the Distributor's website.
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