The Eye of the Whale is a beautifully illustrated children’s book that describes a 2005 incident off the coast of San Francisco in which divers freed a humpback whale caught in the tangled lines of crab traps. Near drowning, the exhausted whale lay still in the water as her rescuers cut the ropes. After she was freed, instead of leaving, she circled the divers as if in celebration and gently nudged each of them before swimming away. O’Connell’s rich and skillful illustrations enhance this deceptively simple tale for students (the publisher suggests ages 5–8), giving a tangible sense of the size and strength of the whale, the vast ocean, the urgency of the rescue, and the uncanny connection made between the trapped whale and her rescuers.
It is this important connection that is central to the story, as important as the rescue itself. Certainly the lesson of humanity’s responsibility to...
University of California Press