This book is a fascinating look into the history of whales, how they became what they are today, and what that may tell us about their future.

Nick Pyenson is a Smithsonian paleontologist who focuses his work on whales, mostly rorquals - a family group of baleen whales some of whom (blue whales) are the largest creatures to exist on our planet - ever. He's been present or around for some of the most interesting finds regarding his specialty across the world, and I found the tour around these bone beds super fun.

Part three of the book takes a turn into oceanic ecology, shifting baselines, and how whales can survive the rapid changes of the current Anthropocene era where humans have caused and are still causing massive shifts in ocean chemistry due to commercial whaling and other behaviors.