Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs: book review

Fathoms: The World in the Whale (2020) is set on the shoreline of Australia.

The author encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beach near Perth, Australia. She details its decomposition, the trail of spectators over the ensuing weeks, the animals that investigated it, and the government’s dilemma on what to do with the carcass.

Initially, the author sought to know why whales beach themselves, why they wanted or needed to die. Then she sought answers about pollutants and toxicants, and the ‘superabundant’ cyclones and storms, and the seascape, until she examines a host of issues: ‘pollution, climate, animal welfare, wildness, commerce, the future, and the past. Inside the whale, the world.’

Why do humans seek contact with animals? The author looks at this question from the perspective of ancient maps, museums, art, literature, photography, whale song and sound, as well as technology to selfie photos. What can observing whales teach humans about the ‘complexity, splendour, and fragility’ of life?

‘What is it about whale song that feels, still, so futuristic?’ I like this account, and the author’s descriptions of hearing the whale song above water and underwater.

Giggs deconstructs the whale as if it is still decomposing, stranded on the beach – from meat to migration to mass stranding, and from blubber to bones.

The title, Fathoms, is taken from a unit of length to measure the depths of the sea, and from Shakespeare’s Tempest lines: ‘full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade.’

This is a lengthy, fascinating look at the whale from tip to tail, inside and out, in all of its vastness and all of its detail.

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MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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