War of the Whales Book

True Story (Hard Cover)

Winner of the 2015 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award: “Horwitz’s dogged reporting…combined with crisp, cinematic writing, produces a powerful narrative…. He has written a book that is instructive and passionate and deserving a wide audience” (PEN Award Citation).

War of the Whales is the “gripping detective tale” (Publishers Weekly) of an attorney, Joel Reynolds, who learns about one of the US Navy’s best-kept secrets: a submarine detection system that emits sound so piercing that it kills whales and drives them onto beaches. Joel Reynolds launches legal measures to challenge the Navy program to mitigate the harm to whales while marine biologist Ken Balcomb witnesses a beaked whale mass stranding in the Bahamas.

“War of the Whales reads like the best investigative journalism, with cinematic scenes of strandings and dramatic David-and-Goliath courtroom dramas as activists diligently hold the Navy accountable” (The Huffington Post).”