Self-described as half-teacher, half-naturalist, Dr. Kenneth S. Norris is one of the world's foremost authorities on whales and dolphins, those most appealing creatures with whom we share the planet. Focusing on the spinner dolphins off Hawaii, Norris carries us through his earliest contacts with these graceful animals (including work with Gregory Bateson), his attempts with teams of students to learn about their complex lives in the sea, and finally to the tragic dolphin kill in the yellowfin tuna industry.

Twenty years in the making by a distinguished dolphin expert and his associates, The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin is the first comprehensive scientific natural history of a dolphin species ever written. From their research camp at Kealakeakua Bay in Hawaii, these scientists followed a population of wild spinner dolphins by radiotracking their movements and, with the use of a windowed underwater vessel, observing the details of their underwater social life.

The authors begin with a description of the spinner dolphin species, its morphology and systematics, and then examine the ocean...

Wild dolphins are an elusive subject for behavioral studies: How can you "do a Jane Goodall" on animals usually visible only as a glimpse of rolling dorsal fins heading for the horizon? In this unusual book, two of the best-known scientists in the marine-mammal field have assembled an astonishing variety of discoveries about dolphins. The contributions range from a graduate student's first paper to senior scientists summarizing a lifetime of research. The dolphins they have studied range from tiny spinners to majestic pilot whales, from killer whales to the familiar bottle-nosed dolphin. The...