In The News: Whale Rescues Whale Watchers, Rams Speedboat - Honoring World Whale Day, Award-Winning Novella Dives Deep To Reveal Secrets Of Behemoth With Largest Brain On Earth

When Whales Watch, by award winning author Mara Purl, will be available at no charge February 18 through February 20, 2021.

Can whales watch the humans who watch them? Can they distinguish between humans who are observing them, and human hunters out to kill them?

When Whales Watch is a thrilling, award-winning novella that takes readers on a wild sea-going adventure. To celebrate World Whale Day, the book makes its debut in print, and the Amazon Kindle E-book will be free for three days, February 18, 19, and 20.

Best-selling, award-winning author Mara Purl weaves compelling facts into her story. Based in part on her experience as a crew member aboard a Greenpeace voyage to save whales, and in part on her expertise as a researcher, Purl found abundant evidence that sperm whales—possessing the largest brains on Earth—are not only highly intelligent, but keenly observant.

“It’s a well-documented fact that a sperm whale could tell which human shot the harpoon, when its mate was killed,” she recounted. “If a male can’t protect its family, it will retaliate.” This, indeed, was the case in the sinking of The Essex as fictionalized in Moby Dick. Purl spent six weeks in the North Pacific on a voyage that came back with extensive photographic and film evidence of whales’ behavior when under attack. She went on to collaborate on an ABC documentary with Jack Ford, to be interviewed on the TODAY show, to write an essay for the Christian Science Monitor and to write a cover story for Rolling Stone.

Yet a deeper story remained to be told. “This story pulled at my heart for several years. How does a pod of sperm whales behave when not under attack? What would cause these pelagic behemoths to visit coastal waters? And what would trigger a male’s extreme protective behavior?” These were the questions Purl set out to answer and to demonstrate in her riveting tale. “Much more is known now about whale physiology and communication, as I discovered during additional research. In some ways they’re way ahead of us. It’s as though I became a ‘whale whisperer’ as I wrote this novella. It was an honor getting to know them better.”

When Whales Watch is part of Purl’s best-selling saga, Milford-Haven, which began as a hit BBC radio drama with 4.5 million listeners in the U.K., and became a multi-award winning book series with 17 million followers in the U.S. The sage is set in California’s scenic Central Coast, where Purl regularly researches her stories, and is a frequent speaker.

Reviewer and Host of The Authors Show Linda Thompson said: “The narrative in this novella is so real, the reader feels as though we are conversing with the protective, soon to be a daddy, sperm whale. Mara Purl has a unique talent for describing a setting, the people, and everything it takes to set up a scene and follow it through.”

Stan Waterman, five-time Emmy winning producer and the “grandfather” of underwater cinematography, said, “When Whales Watch is a well written, fine story. I am much impressed with your whale research. It is accurate and lends great veracity to the tale. I have nothing but compliments for you and great respect for the time and discipline required to produce . . . a series. Well done!!”

“When Whales Watch is the story of unforgettable characters on an exhilarating race towards a life-changing event. I was on the edge of my seat.”– Ophelia London, author of Playing at Love and Abby Road

“I felt impelled to report how enjoyable AND informative is the read. I knew very little about the whale species. Already, you have increased my knowledge of this fascinating mammal at least ten-fold. Your personification of the mother whale is brilliant writing. I can read in your story the love and fascination you have for these great fellow creatures. No doubt, I will fully share that feeling by the novel’s end. On the human side you get how guys think and talk. Glad to have the book handy on my iPad.”
— David S. Sands, Los Angeles, California

Mara Purl is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at marapurl@marapurl.com. When Whales Watch is available in Kindle format at Amazon. More information is available at Purl’s website at http://www.marapurl.com.

About Mara Purl:

For her Milford-Haven Novels, Mara was named 2019 Top Female Author for Fiction by the Authors Show. To date, her book series has won more than 50 book awards, and has topped multiple best-seller lists on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her novels, novellas and novelettes with their gorgeous watercolor book covers and engaging mix of romance and mystery are sought after by her mostly female readers, where Mara has become a trail blazer for both Women’s Fiction and Small Town fiction.

Mara, who has appeared on stage and on-camera since childhood, played the recurring character “Darla Cook” on NBC’s Days of Our Lives. She then founded a production company and created Milford-Haven U.S.A.,a serial drama loosely based upon Cambria. The show, co-starring a well-known L.A. based cast including Erin Gray, Linda Purl, Ed Begley, Jr., Michael Horse, and several others, became the first American radio drama to air on BBC radio, where it enjoyed a following of 4.5 million listeners. Purl’s story later came to the attention of New York publishers, who began publishing her novel series in hardcover in 2011. Since then, her books have become national best-sellers, as have her novellas,

Mara has an on-line following of 17 million when she does her blog tours. She is a frequent guest on radio talk shows, and also speaks for the American Heart Association, for women’s organizations, for writers’ conferences and for colleges and universities. Mara and her books have a large following nationally and particularly in California. Along with her work as an author, speaker and performer, she consults on other authors’ book projects.