The Beluga Cafe: My Strange Adventure with Art, Music, and Whales in the Far NorthAnimal communication expert Jim Nollman has sung with orcas, plucked a Jew's harp in waters teeming with humpback whales, and shaken rattles in the company of bottlenose dolphins. Now, in this heartfelt and quirky true adventure story, Nollman and two artist friends set out for Canada's vast Mackenzie Delta, electric guitar and underwater sound equipment in tow, to make music with belugas--the elusive white whales of the Arctic. Traveling the expanses of this beautiful northern land, the three friends unwittingly find themselves at the center of a heated controversy over the Beaufort Sea belugas: Why have the whales stopped coming into the Mackenzie Delta, possibly jeopardizing their own calves, who live the first part of their lives in these shallow, warm waters? As they attempt to unravel the mystery, they encounter various intriguing characters now laying claim to the resources of the Mackenzie Delta region--Native people (who are allowed to hunt the whales), wildlife officials, and oil company engineers--all vividly described by Nollman. Along the way, he also conveys both the wonders and the realities of being deep in the wilderness--experiencing the connectedness of all living things while scratching the bites of the world's most fearsome mosquitos. With its rich and passionate nature writing evoking lovely and remote landscapes,The Beluga Cafésuggests profound metaphors for our time about animal rights and animal intelligence, the role of science in conservation, the politics of extinction, and the place of art in the epic struggle to save the natural world. |
Contents
NINE | 13 |
The Great Accursed and the Great Sage | 24 |
CraneRacing | 47 |
Copyright | |
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The Beluga Cafe: My Strange Adventure with Art, Music, and Whales in the Far ... Jim Nollman No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
animal answer Arctic artists asked bear Beaufort Sea Beluga Café beluga whales biologists bird boat breathing camp Canadian caribou channel Charley cotton grass cranes Daniel Daniel Dancer dolphins drop estuary expedition eyes face feel feet finger Greenpeace grizzly bear guitar guys hand head hear horizon human hundred hunt hunters inside interspecies Inuit Inuvialuit Inuvialuktun Inuvik Jacob Jacob MacPherson Jonathan keep killing Lancaster Sound land listen looks Mackenzie Delta miles moose mosquito hood motor Nate Nate's Native never nods ocean offshore orcas pack playing music pull radio raven respond rhythm river sandhill cranes sea cow shaman Shingle Point shore sleep slough smile sound species squawking stare started sticks stop tell tent Tent Island there's trappers trip trying tundra turn voice walk watch waves What's wilderness willow wind