Bequia is in crisis. Only one whale hunter can rescue the Caribbean island. Failure could cost him his life. Success could save thousands.
A whale is spotted off Bequia and a boat launches in pursuit. At the helm is Bruce Ollivierre, the last hand-thrown harpooner on Earth and the unofficial leader of his struggling community. Journalist Justin Vibbert joins Olliviere’s death-defying crew as they carry on centuries of indigenous tradition, seizing what may be a last chance to kill an animal five hundred times their size and keep their community afloat. The result is an intimate, harrowing story of cultural survival.
Why must these desperate men go to such extreme lengths? As Vibbert learns, without the earnings from a successful catch, the island’s economy could collapse, supplies of fresh water and food could dry up, schools and hospitals could stay closed, and the ravages of poverty, including disease and human trafficking, could deepen. Meanwhile, the US and China bulldoze the Caribbean, carving up the region for their elite tourism and shipping industries. And Louise Mitchell, the island’s powerful anti-whaling crusader, is bent on shutting Ollivierre down for good, aligning with millionaire environmentalists and luxury real estate developers seeking control.
The Last Whale Hunter confronts the battle between culture and conservation and asks who gets to decide the future of a Caribbean island. For the locals threatened with losing their home and their autonomy, Bruce Ollivierre is the last hope.
