***In the 1960s, Farley Mowat was living in the tiny fishing community of Burgeo on the southwest coast of Newfoundland. When an 80-ton fin whale became trapped in a nearby saltwater lagoon, Mowat rejoiced: here was the first chance to study at close range one of the most magnificent animals in creation.*** Some local villagers thought otherwise, blasting the whale with rifle fire and hacking open her back with a motorboat propeller.

Mowat appealed desperately to the authorities, but it was too late-ravaged by an infection resulting from her massive wounds, the whale died. ***A plea for the end of commercial hunting of the whale, this moving account blends all the tension of the life-and-death struggle for one animal's survival*** with the drama of man's wanton destruction of life-bearing creatures and the environment itself.***--WorldCat***