New Novel Captures the Perspective of a Killer Whale
Orca expert Astrid Maria van Ginneken reveals just how family ties and solidarity are the essence of Orca life in
Togetherness is Our Home.
Wassenaar, The Netherlands (PRWEB) May 20, 2007 -- Drawing from many years of experience and diligent observation, author Astrid Maria van Ginneken illustrates the intensity of the bond between the members of a pod of Orcas in her new book,
Togetherness is Our Home.
In Togetherness is Our Home, readers will follow the book's main character, a female Orca named Tuschka, as she learns what it means to be a killer whale and member of a pod. By accompanying Tuschka on her journey - which includes searching for food, learning the discipline of hunting, forming loyalties, developing friendships, encountering danger, getting injured, and experiencing sadness and loss - readers will begin to understand the essence of Orca life as well.
Written from the whale's point of view, the book allows readers to discover the qualities of an Orca. Orcas are not just supreme predators; they are also highly intelligent creatures capable of friendship, tenderness, sincerity, and affection.
Every piece of this story conveys the author's perception of Orca life, and over the years, van Ginneken's observations have helped to reveal how similar an Orca's mind is to a human's. Insightful and emotional, Togetherness is Our Home brilliantly demonstrates how home is where your dear ones are.
About the Author
Extensively educated in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Astrid Maria van Ginneken received her bachelor's, master's, and medical doctor degrees from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. She went on to study for her Ph.D., which she obtained from the Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam. Van Ginneken currently applies the results of her innovative research on computerized patient records to medical practice at the Erasmus MC (university medical center). Fascinated by animals since grade school, van Ginneken has participated in numerous activities involving Orcas. She has delivered over 45 vivid presentations to the public on the subject of wild and captive Orcas. Given her expertise, van Ginneken has written and contributed to: field reports, magazine articles and documentaries on the subject of killer whales, including one on the Discovery Channel and one in National Geographic. She currently resides in Wassenaar, The Netherlands.
Astrid van Ginneken has co-directed research at the Center for Whale Research with Ken Balcomb each summer for nearly 20 years. Her expertise, attention to detail and effervescent personality have proved invaluable for maintaining the essential continuity of the photo-identification studies of the Southern Resident orca community. The resulting demographic information keeps us all aware of the overall health and welfare of this extended orca clan, and was crucial to the orcas' "endangered" listing under the ESA in November, 2005.
Togetherness Is Our Home tells the story of an orca in the course of her daily life, in her relationships with her family as they face the challenges of surviving in their habitat. Eventually her life interescts with humans who capture and train her for display in a marine park. When the time comes to return Tuschka to her home and family, the soul-searching and conflicts among the humans, and between the orcas, are intensely dramatic and brilliantly clarify the issues involved in reuniting a captive orca with the togetherness of her pod. The parallels with the continuing controversy about returning Lolita, the only surviving captive orca from the Southern Resident community, are clear and present on every breath-taking page. –Howard Garrett
Amazon.com link to Togetherness Is Our Home
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