Whales’ Tales — The Affair of Cetaceans and Humans

In 1994, Satyajit Das glimpsed a Blue Whale in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica. This set off a Moby Dick-like quest for the leviathan and became a waypoint in a three-decade search for wildlife throughout the world. Pairing his desire to understand humans’ underlying preoccupations with wildlife and the tensions in our bond with them prompted Das to produce Wild Quests: Journeys into Ecotourism and the Future for Animals, a book which is a literal and metaphorical record of his travels and the lessons he learnt along the way.  

In this presentation, Das examines our connection with whales through history, tracing the journey from hunting to preservation. Drawing on the past, science, conservation politics and most of all direct experience, Das presents a provocative and impassioned examination of the uses and abuses of great cetaceans and their future. Whales’ Tales questions, at a time of planetary crisis, the relationship of humankind to the natural world.   

This event includes a display of whale-related items selected from our collection by Library curators. 

Satyajit Das is a former banker, recognised as one of the world’s leading financial thinkers. He is the author of numerous books, including Traders, Guns & Money, Extreme Money, Banquet of Consequences and Fortune’s Fool, which examine the intersection between money and society, and the co-author, with his partner Jade Novakovic, of In Search of the Pangolin. Together they have seen many of the planet’s emblematic mammals, nearly 5000 species of birds and more. Das is a regular festival guest and media commentator, and he appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job.   

Host or Publisher State Library of New South Wales