The Last Sunset in the West

Britain's Vanishing West Coast Orcas (Fully Revised and Updated Edition)

Natalie Sanders

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781780278940
• eBook ISBN: 9781788857215

Fully revised edition with updated information on the surviving members of the orca pod.

In 2014, marine biologist Dr Natalie Sanders joined the crew of the research vessel Silurian to seek out Britain's West Coast Community of orca and study them before we lose them forever. Though this orca pod has delighted scientists and whale watchers for years, we still know relatively little about them, and what we do know comes mostly from citizen science and chance encounters. But what is abundantly clear is that pollution, entanglement, military sonar and climate change continue to have an enormous impact on whales and dolphins and other marine life throughout the world's oceans.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the marine world in this age of climate change. A captivating yet poignant account, it takes the reader from the Western Isles of Scotland to Vancouver Island and elsewhere. It also delves deep into the history of our relations with these beautiful and sentient creatures to explain what their loss means and how we can avoid similar tragedies in the future.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part One: The West Coast Community
• Part Two: The Voyage of the Silurian
• Epilogue: Looking back
• Looking Forward: Ways you can help
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography