War of the Whales (book review)

War of the whales was a book that validated our book club’s desire to read books that we would not ordinarily read on our own. This story moved the needle for me on the proper balance between national security and environmental considerations important to a democracy. Unfortunately, while it was a good story, and the foundation for a worthy national debate, the writing was only mediocre.

The book opened with a reminder that once the whales left the land and re-entered the water, they ruled the ocean as its top predators for over 30,000,000 years. About 150 centuries ago, a relative blink of an eye, a new predator emerged to rule the land. A few hundred years ago the land predator came to the oceans.

This is a David versus Goliath story of a cetologist (Ken Balcomb) and environmental activist lawyer (Joel Reynolds) taking on the United States Navy on behalf of the oceans' whales. It begins with the mass beachings of a dozen or so beached whales right on Balcolm's front door from his research station on Abaco in the Bahamas. Coincidentally the United States Navy had just completed exercises in the Great Bahamas Canyon, just offshore from Balcolmb's tropical research station. As a former sailor and Navy contractor, he understood the relevance of the destroyer he saw in the water only a few miles from the mass beaching. And also faced a personal quandary, facing down his occasional employer and powerful adversary.

While this is a work of nonfiction, it often read like fiction, while lacking the crisp texture or organization of fiction. Re-creation of dialogue was one example, and the back stories to several of the main characters, including cytologist Ken Balcomb, lawyer Joel Reynolds, and ocean mammal expert Darlene Ketten, were left open. But where fiction could have closed the loop on certain threads, particularly Ketten’s autopsy of one of Balcomb's beaked whales, this completion was lacking in the story. Some examples were credible, including the dramatization of the new admiral's learning about the naval exercise proximity to the whale beachings: we’ve got a PR problem. But repeated reference to “warships”, instead of more descriptive destroyers, cruisers, or assault ships, further muddied the water.

One reason suggested for this missing completion of details was that so much of what we know is held secretly by the US Navy. We learned that the Navy will go to great lengths to understand exactly how something went wrong, but will never divulge its findings to anyone outside of the Navy. National security is a valid reason for this secrecy, but accountability needs to have a home for the health of any institution.

An incredible amount of fisheries and oceanographic research is funded by the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR). This gives the Navy tremendous leverage over important characters, including marine bioacoustics program manager Bob Gisiner, and whale pathologist, Darlene Ketten.

We agreed that in times of peace, the Navy will project and image of ocean stewardship to protect funding for its myriad programs. During times of war, on the other hand, the Navy can do whatever it needs to do to keep our country safe.

The Navy's obsession with submarines coming close to our shores has a long history. Chuck recalled meeting a German fellow who admitted his only visit to the US was to Mobile AL, when he ventured well into Mobile Bay, as a sub commander, to a small German town to re-provision during WWII. The risk of foreign submarines shadowing our coastline in World War II forever changed the strategic geographic value of an ocean buffer. The emergence of nuclear weapons and Soviet subs followed, with quieter subs able to shadow noisier Russian subs... until the blade technology was stolen and sold to the Soviets by John Walker and Jerry Whitworth in the 1980's. Today, Russian subs are quieter than many in the US fleet, and older Soviet subs have been sold to a long list of nations unfriendly to the US, including Iran, North Korea and who knows which other rogue nations or organizations. El Chapo had his own submarine. Thus, technology to find and track unfriendly subs is a high priority defense initiative.

Unfortunately the science in the book was superficial. We infer that beaked whales had been driven out of the water and onto Bahamian beaches (and untold additional numbers drowning or dying of the bends), the reader never learns enough details from the autopsy performed by whale pathologist Darlene Ketten. We learn the volume of mid-range frequency is as high as 235 decibels, but have no reference as to what that really means mentally or biologically. One inference drawn is that the Navy, through the ONR, controls almost all the oceanographic research, meaning it has effectively withheld information which could be useful for a broader national discussion about mitigation techniques or the damage actually cause to this family of highly intelligent mammals.

This discussion worked its way into how much trouble institutions have when they are no longer accountable to the public, its funding agents, or any outsiders; we also pondered techniques that could be used for naval exercises. Jeff proposed better simulation technology, but Chuck countered that naval exercises involve so many personnel, north of 10,000 in various capacities within a carrier group exercise. And setting up 'ping-free zones' near the coast would be as ineffective as gun-free zones are at stopping killers with guns targeting soft target kill zones.

Another thought was to bring back trained whales and dolphins to do some of the dirty work needed to protect us from subs. Fascinating achievements back in the day. But this approach comes with a price deemed too high back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s and Day of the Dolphin, and probably would not pass muster with the animal protector crowd.

The main characters, Balcomb and Reynolds were the classic David (vs Goliath) fighters, the scientist and the lawyer. We learn that this unlikely team is not ultimately successful at the Supreme Court, but do have an effect on Naval environmental assessments.

We posed the question, with unstoppable military developments into ever greater offensive threats and defensive challenges, do ocean dwelling mammals stand a chance? SOSUS was developed in the 1960’s and has been dismantled and replaced with…? We don’t know. Considering the preponderance of recreational soundings alone (i.e. motor boats up and down the coast and into inland estuarial waters), how do the marine mammals stand a chance? With people like Ken Balcomb and Joel Reynolds on the edge, disrupting old beliefs and challenging the Goliaths of the world.