Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins

By Susan Casey

From Susan Casey, the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth and The Wave, a breathtaking look into the mysterious world of dolphins and their conflicted history with man.
     Since the dawn of recorded history, humans have felt a kinship with the sleek and beautiful dolphin, an animal whose playfulness, sociability and intelligence seems like an aquatic mirror of mankind. In recent decades, scientists have discovered dolphins recognize themselves in reflections, count, feel despondent, adorn themselves, rescue each other (and humans), deduce, infer, form cliques, throw tantrums, gossip and scheme.
     Several native peoples trace their lineage to dolphins. They are the stars of multi-million dollar aquatic theme parks, money which has fueled a sinister illicit trade as shown in the documentary Blackfish. The U.S. Navy has a secret program using dolphins as undersea soldiers. The theory that they are a superior, extraterrestial species is popular among the new age fringe. They are the victims of brutal slaughters as depicted in the documentary The Cove. To swim with a dolphin is a transporting experience, an encounter with a being seemingly so like us, yet so alien.
     No writer is better positioned to portray these magical creatures than Susan Casey, whose combination of personal reporting, intense scientific research, and evocative prose made The Wave and The Devil's Teeth contemporary classics of writing on the oceans. For two years Casey traveled the world, and has written a thrilling book about the other intelligent life on the planet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9780385679411

Susan Casey

Susan Casey is the editor in chief of O, The Oprah Magazine. She was previously the editor in chief of Sports Illustrated Women and an editor at large for Time Inc.'s 180 magazine titles. She also served as the creative director of Outside magazine where, with editor Mark Bryant, she led the magazine to three consecutive, history-making National Magazine Awards for General Excellence. At Outside she was part of the editorial team that developed the stories behind Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm. Her writing has appeared in Esquire, Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. She is the author of The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks, The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean, and Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins. She lives in New York City.

Reviews for Voices in the Ocean

[msf59 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“How do you think humans got so cruel?” I asked Makili. He gazed at the ocean, then back at Turner and me. “We forgot,” he said, letting the words linger. “We forgot our responsibility. And we forgot that we are as equal as any living thing within the chain. There’s no hierarchy in this. Nah. We are part of the same family: living things. All the rest of it is just totally fucking bullshit.” Dolphins have to be the coolest creatures, on earth and that includes human beings. Dolphins are not vicious, dishonest, vindictive or blood-thirsty. They are smart, family orientated and generally kind. We kill them and exploit them. This is what we do. I really enjoyed Casey's book, The Wave, about monster waves and the surfer community. In this one, she sets her sights on dolphins and other sea mammals, like killer whales, which are also kick-ass. She traveled thousands of miles, to research, protest and swim with these blissful creatures. She also connected with many fine people, along the way, who have made it their life mission, to protect these wonderful animals.Fair warning- This book is not for the faint of heart. Cruelty abounds here and Casey hammers it home, like a pile-driver. She does not mince words, but if you can stomach it, it is a very well-written, heartfelt look at nature's best. **Also, the audiobook is excellent. Just sayin'...

[kenno82 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Susan Casey is one of my favourite authors. Her approach and passion for her subject and personal take on things always carries through to the reader.

[neddludd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very satisfying work by a woman who writes well and with verve. Here are the essentials of how and when research into dolphin cognition and language began and where that research has led. Readers learn of the great variety of dolphins and whales and also about the cultures of each animal. All are highly social, all have huge brains, all have natural echo-location which is far more advanced than anything humans have yet created, all are extraordinarily intelligenet and capable. The author trashes the dolphin theme parks, noting that, in effect, these imprisoned individuals live shorter lives, don't have a chance to work up to a fraction of their potential, frequently are sick, and generally that these parks exist solely for profits rather than the welfare or study of the animals. For orcas, it is even worse; their culture is incredibly tight, matriarchal, and multi-generational; to put a single orca in a tank is to punish the animal with solitary confinement. I think the book's flaw is that the author presents a series of snapshots rather than a coherent narrative that constitutes an educational immersion. The snapshots are interesting, some moreso than others, but it makes for an incomplete presentation. Two chapters on hunting dolphins are especially gruesome and hard to get through.

[rdwhitenack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining and informative like Casey's other books, this one seeming just a little more superfluous. Like the research and reporting on John Lilly, one of the original dolphin researchers. Great info on the slaughters that take place around the world most of all the Solomon Islands

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have only seen dolphins once briefly in the wild. We were coming back from holiday in Jersey and as the ferry eased its way into the narrow harbour of St Peter Port in Guernsey behind the boat there were some leaping in the wake. It was a magical moment in that brief glimpse. There are often off the coast of Dorset and we have been out to Durlston Head to see if we can see them, but haven't been fortunate yet.

They are highly intelligent creatures, they can recognise themselves in the mirror, are capable of empathy, grief and teamwork. They are excellent communicators, their clicks and whistles are almost continuous as they zip through the ocean. The more that we discover of their abilities the more amazed we become. They are almost human-like in some ways.

However, these magnificent creatures though are under threat. Being an apex predator they accumulate all the toxins and plastics that are contained within their prey. Those that we haven't killed accidentally are frequently killed in nets and there are communities in the world that see them as a threat to their fishing stocks and kill thousands each year. On top of all that the world's oceans are now a noisy place with a constant drone from propellers and super loud sonar from military manoeuvres. Dolphin carcases wash up on all the shores around the world, but if that part of the ocean is polluted then the numbers dying grows enormously.

Casey falls in love with these amazing animals and heads to various places around the world to meet those that love dolphins such as Dolphinville on Hawaii’s Big Island where people spend time swimming with the spinner dolphins, as well as taking more harrowing trips to Japan, and seeing where hundreds are slaughtered. On her travels, she discovers more about the trade in live creatures and how a creature that needs the whole of the ocean to live in ends up in marinas and private collections. Her descriptions of her visits to see the animals that are held in captivity are shocking and heart-wrenching. We are rapidly approaching the tipping point where we may not have any dolphins left in the seas. If that ever happens we as a species will be much poorer for it. Not quite as good as her book on waves, but still makes for compelling reading.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book just didn't work for me. I loved the author's first book The Devils Teeth, and her excellent second book, The Wave, but this book was, well, boring. It was her spiritual odyssey and the people who love dolphins, and how badly dolphins are treated, and the Japanese killing of Dolphins, and the flakes who love dolphins, and. But there is no story. Hopefully her next book is more like the first two.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I must say I was mightily relieved to be finished with this one. Not that it isn't good...it's too good. It is subtitled "A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins", but I think that's misleading. It is more a journey into the harrowing and horrifying world of dolphin exploitation and abuse. As I listened to it on audio, I can't go back through the book and cite examples, but the overwhelming feeling I had during most of it was "I can't take much more of this". Wholesale slaughter and heartless captivity conditions, even in the big-name theme parks we've all heard of...these marvelous, intelligent creatures have been very badly served by humanity in the last few centuries...by modern societies and primitive ones alike. Their teeth used for currency; their bodies contaminated by pollutants; their environment bombarded by sonar, the noise of ship engines, drilling rigs and naval war games; their lives appropriated for human entertainment or experimentation, whole pods slaughtered for political or monetary gain. Casey has interviewed a number of activists who are risking their own lives to try to stop some of the worst abuses; as well as one researcher who decided to give up her work, which she had come to view as unethical; and Joan Ocean, a new age guru from "Dolphinville" in Hawaii who claims to have a mystic, spiritual relationship with cetaceans. Dolphins have no autonomic nervous system and must consciously breathe. Therefore, if they are stunned they can "drown" because they stop breathing. There is also anecdotal evidence that depressed individuals have simply refused to take another breath, effectively committing suicide.Thankfully, Casey concluded her book with visits to ancient Minoan sites on the Isle of Crete, where back in the Bronze Age they apparently appreciated and lived in harmony with nature and its other creatures, particularly those dwelling in the sea around them. Their art is glorious, even after all these centuries buried under rock and ash from the volcanic eruption that apparently eradicated their civilization. A Google search for images is worth your time. Casey's writing is very fine, and the reading performance by Cassandra Campbell on the audio version was outstanding. This is important stuff, and if you can stand it, I recommend it.December 2015

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

nonfiction (dolphin studies, exploitation, conservation and lore in human history).
A long (11-1/2 hour) audiobook that provides a sobering look at how dolphins (including orcas) suffer in captivity, cruel hunting practices and the accompanying dolphin trafficking trade, plus a peek into New Age dolphin enthusiasts, Chumash beliefs, and more.

[brianinbuffalo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As someone who has always been fascinated by dolphins, I found Casey’s meticulously researched book to be enlightening, entertaining — and heartbreaking. As one reviewer aptly wrote, the book “is not for the faint of heart” given the abundance of cruelty that fills the pages as Casey chronicles ruthless slaughters and other acts of abuse. “Voices in the Ocean” is well-written, exhaustively documented and only occasionally wades a bit too long in some waters. True, it gets a bit too spiritual for me as we approach the end (sorry, mom). But I learned a lot about these amazing creatures through Casey’s informative journey.

[jaylia3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Susan Casey’s Voices in the Ocean made me fall deeply in love with dolphins, those intelligent, highly social mammals of the sea, then tore my heart out by describing the appalling abuses they receive at the hands of our species. Deeply sad after her father died unexpectedly, Casey was in the middle of a perhaps ill advised solo swim across Honolua Bay when she encountered a large pod, forty or fifty animals, of gently chattering spinner dolphins swimming toward her. Instead of just passing by, they swam with her for a while, lifting her spirits almost like magic and setting her on a worldwide dolphin odyssey.Casey traveled to some wonderfully quirky places, like the new-agey Dolphinville on Hawaii’s Big Island, where 200-some people live, work, meditate, and swim with wild dolphins together. But she also visited marine parks and tourist pleasing “swim with the dolphins” sites, where community-loving dolphins are isolated and kept in slave like conditions, and she connected with dolphin activists in several parts of the world where dolphins are slaughtered in mass numbers, often because it’s believed they eat fish that should be food for people and sometimes, even more horribly, just for spite. Sea pollution and the US Navy’s underwater sonar are other human activities that have had a devastating impact on dolphins. Along the way Casey sought out researchers who’ve studied dolphins, so the book is a mixture of science, history, personal experience, and social commentary. It’s beautifully and movingly written, and I especially loved reading about the evolutionary background of dolphins, the special qualities their large brains endow them with, the eons long and mostly wonderful history of human-dolphin interactions, and the fascinating characteristics of dolphin societies--Casey compares them to an ancient tribe. The abuses were painful to read about, but I’m glad to be better informed. And Casey ends the book on an up note by summarizing what is known about the intriguing, apparently dolphin-loving Minoan civilization and describing her visit to the art-rich Minoan archaeological sites and museums of Santorini and Crete-- Minoan art is both colorful and beautiful, and definitely worth Google-imaging.