Overview

Baja California is a land of extremes--where desert meets sea, light plays on ancient mountains, and life thrives in unexpected places. The whales first called the author here more than twenty years ago, but what he discovered was a world so rich it became home. This is a personal account of decades at sea, photographing whales and marine life and absorbing the beauty of the peninsula and the Sea of Cortés. With lyrical prose and striking images, the author portrays a place where boojum trees and cardón cactus rise like Gaudí sculptures, islands float like mirages, and gray whales find refuge in calm lagoons. But this is also a quiet warning. As time passes, we forget the abundance that once was. The sea, once teeming with life, is changing, with fewer whales, smaller fish, and quieter skies. This book records what was and reminds us of what could still be--if we choose to remember. From Picacho del Diablo to the whirlpools of Salsipuedes, this journey captures wild animals in their element: unposed, untamed, real. At its core, it is a story of longing--for beauty, wildness, and truth--and of finding vivid, unexpected life among shooting stars and surfacing whales.

Full Product Details

9788831403726

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Christopher Swann has spent more than forty-five years at sea in one way or another, including diving in the Royal Navy and later the oil fields of the North Sea. He sailed square riggers, traveled on the sea ice with Inuit, and lived in the subantarctic for six months on a remote island, filming killer whales. For more than thirty years, he ran whale-watching trips, initially in the Hebrides on his large wooden gaff ketch, the Marguerite Explorer, and then worldwide. During that time, he became an award-winning photographer, specializing in whales and marine life. Discovering the Sea of Cortes changed his life, and for the last twenty-five years, he has spent at least half the year exploring the waters around the Baja Peninsula. He has produced two books on whales and the Sea of Cortes, with very favorable comments from two world-famous leaders on conservation. Sir David Attenborough said ""it is truly spectacular,"" Carl Safina said, ""Your work is stunning."" Swann continues to explore spectacular marine encounters.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available