This book of photography offers bold new insight into the lives of the world's largest mammals, along with their complex societies. In these pages, we learn that whale – especially the sperm and humpback species – share an amazing ability to learn and adapt to opportunities, from specialized feeding strategies to migration techniques. There is also evidence of deeper, cultural elements of whale identity, from unique dialects to matriarchal societies to organized social customs like singing contests. Featuring the arresting underwater images of Brian Skerry, who has explored and documented oceans for nearly four decades, Secrets of the Whales documents these alluring creatures in all their glory – and demonstrate how these majestic creatures can teach us about ourselves and our planet.
Brain Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic. In 2014 he was named a National Geographic Photography Fellow. In 2015 he was named a Nikon Ambassador and in 2017 the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. An award-winning photographer, Skerry is praised worldwide for his aesthetic sense as well as his journalistic drive for relevance. He lives in York, Maine.