How to Speak Whale

“How to Speak Whale is a rich exploration of some of the world’s most astonishing creatures and the remarkable people that seek to understand them. Mustill weaves a narrative that will expand your concept of language and deepen your understanding of the many ways there are to be alive. This is an extraordinary book that left me inspired.” –Merlin Sheldrake, New York Times bestselling author of Entangled Life“Not only will this book blow your mind, it will instill you with a vision of interspecies peace and progress - and there is nothing more revolutionary than that.”–Daniel Kraus, author of The Shape of Water“Superbly detailed, limpid, uplifting and emotionally arresting, Mustill does not just speak to the whales but for them. The Interspecies age is dawning and Mustill is in the vanguard.” –J.M. Ledgard, author of Submergence“Fascinating … Mustill dives into the history of the whaling industry and looks beyond.”–BookRiot“Like a first-class nature film put on paper … a reasoned, entertaining, and fact-filled inquiry into the particulars of animal communication and the possibilities of humans ever talking to any animals.”–Forbes“A thoughtful, wide-ranging, and moving book that combines history, reportage, science, and Mustill’s own process around his near-death collision with a mammoth sentient being from another world … How to Speak Whale is in many ways a love letter to all the life on this planet besides ours: its beauty, its deep strangeness, its power–and our longing, often unrequited, to understand and connect with it. And, as with any current exploration of the natural world, the book is also filled with grief about how much of that wonderland is gone, or going.”–Oprah Daily“This lively book by the British nature documentarian begins with a bang.”–The Globe and Mail“A whirlwind of stories and scientific studies all pointing to when, exactly, humans might be able to ‘speak whale’ … Projects both a warning of the dangers of human exceptionalism and an optimism for the quest to understand the inner lives of our fellow animals.”–Vulture“A travelogue, a history lesson, a critique of the scientific community when it comes to animal studies, and a high-tech conservation game plan all wrapped into one book. Most of all it’s a captivating, thought-provoking read, leaving its audience with a greater sense of the complexity and inherent value of these sovereigns of the deep.”–Christian Science Monitor“Readers will savor this expert exploration of animal communication.”–Kirkus“A mix of thoughtfully explained hard science and colorfully described hands-on adventures … Mustill’s findings offer hope that someday a book called How to Speak Whale might be more dictionary than discussion.”–BookPage“The ultimate question of Mustill’s book is whether enabling interspecies communication will make people value other species more. His attention to detail–perhaps from his work as a nature documentary filmmaker–immerses readers in each step of discovery and lends immediacy and personality to the writing. Environmentalists and general science enthusiasts will enjoy joining Mustill on his quest to understand whales.”–Library Journal“Mustill examines why humans always seem to underestimate other animals and what this means for the future and writes of the sheer joy of being in the water with a singing humpback whale.”–Booklist, Starred Review“Fascinating characters … Thoughtful and curious, this study sings.”–Publishers Weekly“We rarely pause to consider what animals think or feel, or question whether their inner lives resemble our own. Tom Mustill’s fascinating and deeply humane book shows us why we must do so–and what we, and the planet, could stand to gain by it.”–Greta Thunberg“A rich, fascinating, brilliant book that opens our eyes and ears to worlds we can scarcely imagine.”–George Monbiot, Sunday Times bestselling author of Regenesis“How to Speak Whale is borne along by [Mustill’s] faith that whales have something intelligible to tell us and his hope that one day soon we’ll figure out what that is … Think how transformative it would be if we could chat with whales about their love lives or their sorrows or their thoughts on the philosophy of language.”–Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker“Mustill has opened a door that takes us into an exciting journey of understanding the other animals on this planet, demystifying their secrets and putting their messages within our grasp. You will actually start to listen to animals after reading this extraordinary book.”–Christiana Figueres, Author of The Future We Choose“Mustill guides the reader right to the edge of what we know (and don’t know) about how whales and other non-human animals talk to one another. A lively and informative read that heralds what could be the golden age of animal communication.”–Jonathan C. Slaght, Author of Owls of the Eastern Ice, longlisted for the National Book Award and Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award“This is a scary, important and brilliant book. It proposes that whales may be the first species other than ourselves whose complex communications we will soon understand. Tom Mustill’s adventures into the inner space occupied by these watery aliens are by turns enthralling and revealing. And he’s not afraid to ask, boldly, the crucial question: if we do get to translate ‘whale’, will we like what they’ve got to say?”–Philip Hoare, Author of Leviathan and Albert and the Whale

“Dr. Doolittle wanted to speak to the animals, and many attempts to communicate with non-humans have involved trying to teach them to speak English. The frontier is in meeting other animals where they are, how they live, and for us to understand them by learning their modes of communication. In How to Speak Whale, Tom Mustill takes us farther, much farther, than Dr. Doolittle ever imagined. And he does it with humility and sensitivity that befits the subject.”

Tom Mustill is a biologist turned filmmaker and writer, specializing in stories where people and nature meet. His film collaborations, many with Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough, have received numerous international awards, including two Webbys, a BAFTA, and an Emmy nomination. They have been played at the UN, in Times Square, and on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, and been shared by heads of state, the World Health Organization, and Guns N’ Roses. He lives in London with his wife, Annie; daughter, Stella; and the inhabitants of his small but surprisingly deep pond.