... a thoughtful, wide-ranging, and moving book that combines history, reportage, science, and Mustill’s own process around his near-death collision with a mammoth sentient being from another world ... Part of the considerable pleasure of How to Speak Whale, in fact, is the tension between all the facts Mustill uncovers and the mysteries that remain undeciphered.
... a mix of thoughtfully explained hard science and colorfully described hands-on adventures (a beachside whale dissection is particularly memorable) ... Thanks to Mustill’s gift for storytelling, it’s as interesting to learn about these experts as the creatures they study. Reidenberg is a particular delight, as is Dr. Roger Payne, whose album of whale song recordings went multiplatinum in 1970. Through it all, there runs an undercurrent of appreciation and wonderment as Mustill gulps down knowledge and determinedly questions whether 'decoding animal communications [is] no longer a fantasy but a technical problem' ... Wild (and thrilling!) as that may seem, Mustill’s findings offer hope that someday a book called How to Speak Whale might be more dictionary than discussion, more conversation than exploration.
It’s certainly plausible that the kinds of algorithms that have extracted the expertise of human translators from the world’s literature could map the semantic space of the sperm whale’s grunts and clicks, and respond in kind. But it hasn’t happened yet, which condemns Mr. Mustill to the realms of enthusiastic speculation. How to Speak Whale arrives too late to capitalize on his kayaking encounter and too early for any whale to have actually been spoken.
... a travelogue, a history lesson, a critique of the scientific community when it comes to animal studies, and a high-tech conservation game plan all wrapped into one book. Most of all it’s a captivating, thought-provoking read, leaving its audience with a greater sense of the complexity and inherent value of these sovereigns of the deep.
Mustill examines why humans always seem to underestimate other animals and what this means for the future and writes of the sheer joy of being in the water with a singing humpback whale.
Not only does Mustill connect with scientists around the world who consider the differing mechanics of how people and whales produce and receive sounds and gestures, but he also explores what is culturally important enough to express in words, and whether definitions of language, communication, and intelligence are too anthropocentric to even apply to non-human species. Finally, he surveys current data-gathering and artificial-intelligence projects that are programming machines to collect, analyze, and interpret vast amount of audio data from whales and other animals. The ultimate question of Mustill’s book is whether enabling interspecies communication will make people value other species more. His attention to detail—perhaps from his work as a nature documentary filmmaker—immerses readers in each step of discovery and lends immediacy and personality to the writing ... Environmentalists and general science enthusiasts will enjoy joining Mustill on his quest to understand whales.
Mustill uncovers numerous intriguing avenues as he recounts his travels around the world interviewing the growing number of scientists trying to make sense of an overwhelming stream of recordings from cetaceans (whales and closely related dolphins and porpoises) ... a fascinating world brought to life by Mustill ... Despite the absence of a primer on whale language, readers will savor this expert exploration of animal communication.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
