SOUNDINGS

A British climate journalist follows the gray whale migration and finds life wisdom.

BBC reporter and beleaguered single mother Cunningham wanted to show her toddler son, Max, how gray whale mothers and calves venture thousands of miles from the birthing lagoons of Baja California in Mexico to the frigid feeding grounds of the Arctic Ocean. The idea was to demonstrate how the two of them could overcome all obstacles with similar fortitude. The journey, supported by a bank loan, was also a way to give her a fresh start in life. Few things went as planned, though matters culminated in a Hollywood ending. Years earlier, she had learned a great deal about subsistence whaling, the ecology of the North, and the life of the Inuit by living with an Iñupiaq whaling family in Alaska. She also fell in love with one member of the extended family, a touching if slightly melodramatic thread of the story. In her debut book, Cunningham, who trained as an engineer, had hoped these experiences, coupled with a planned reunion with her adopted family, would aid in her quest. The author moves back and forth between these two time periods, recounting her sometimes-arduous physical and emotional journeys to a more confident, stable place. Cunningham is consistently forthcoming and self-aware, and she delivers an informed perspective on climate change and ecological damage with (mostly) gentle insistence. She also relates a harrowing history of Anglo attempts to homogenize and destroy traditional Inuit lifestyles—though occasionally she succumbs to an ideological rant. In her own field, she deplores the continued failures of environmental journalism to counteract the false balance and distortions served up by corporate deniers. A gorgeous, heartfelt coda brings the narrative to a close, and we can’t deny our own sympathies.

An absorbing account that offers urgent warnings for humankind.