What a Fish Knows

The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins

By: Jonathan Balcombe

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eBook | 1 December 2016

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304 Pages

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An Observer Book of the Year 2017

A Sunday Times must read

A New York Times Bestseller

Endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama – ‘Balcombe vividly shows that fish have feelings and deserve consideration and protection like other sentient beings’

What’s the truth behind the old adage that goldfish have a three-second memory? Do fishes think? Can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? Myth-busting biologist and animal behaviour expert Jonathan Balcombe takes us under the sea, through streams and estuaries to the other side of the aquarium glass to answer these questions and more. He upends our assumptions, revealing that fish are far from the unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines so many of us assume them to be. They are, in fact, sentient, aware, social and even Machiavellian – in other words, rather like us.

What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, it offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fish and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet’s increasingly imperilled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins – the pet goldfish included.

Industry Reviews

‘Many of us have a soft spot for dolphins and whales, but Balcombe makes it embarrassingly clear how absolutely ignorant (and arrogant) we are when it comes to the vast world of our oceans and their inhabitants.’