Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: The best available field guide for marine mammals in Alaska
Review: A comprehensive and user friendly guide to marine mammals in Alaskan waters. This book is designed to be used in the field, with enough information on habitat, range and behavioral traits of the various species. Identification is based on more than pictures alone allowing readers to educate themselves beyond mere identification.

Rating:
Summary: INCOMPLETE:useful for the most common cetaceans in Alaska
Review: I have examined this field guide, but find no place for this on my reference shelf. Although user-friendly, this is an incomplete field guide. A number of whale/dolphin genera/species which occur in Alaskan waters are excluded. Although missing from this field guide, I have personally observed northern right whale dolphin and short-finned pilot whales in the Gulf of Alaska during research cruises. Risso's dolphin and false killer whale have been recorded from Alaskan waters and are also excluded from this book. A number of other ceteceans (especially Kogia spp, Stenella coeruleoalba, and several other Mesoplodon spp. especially M. carlhubsii) are potential accidentals in Alaskan waters during warm-water incursions and these are also ignored. Please consider purchase of a complete guide to cetacean identification instead. Try Leatherwood et al.'s "Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Eastern North Pacific and Adjacent Arctic Waters'.