From the hundred-and-fifty-ton barnacled Blues to the sleek, embattled Minke, whales have been hunted worldwide to near extinction. Despite efforts to end the killing, fate of these majestic mammals known as “mind in the water,� continues to be in jeopardy. With passion and arresting detail, Andrew Darby profiles each type of whale and its place in the tragic drama. From aboriginals with wooden harpoons in “cockleshell� vessels to today’s Russian pirate whalers and Japanese and Norwegian “scientific� crews with their high tech killing machines, he vividly chronicles the relentless pursuit of whales and its significance to humanity.