Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and Shortlisted for the Stella Prize

How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them?

Fathoms blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions. Giggs introduces us to whales so rare they have never been named and tells us of whale ‘pop’ songs that sweep across hemispheres. She takes us into the deeps to discover that one whale’s death can spark a great flourishing of creatures. We travel to Japan to board whaling ships, examine the uncanny charisma of these magnificent mammals, and confront the plastic pollution now pervading their underwater environment.