Big Miracle

Summary

Set during the Cold War, in 1988, Big Miracle tells the real story behind the remarkable, bizarre, and oftentimes uproarious event that mesmerized the world for weeks. On October 7, an Inuit hunter near Barrow, Alaska, found three California Gray whales imprisoned in the Arctic ice. In the past, as was nature's way, trapped whales always died. But not this time.

Tom Rose, who was covering the event for a Japanese television station, compellingly describes how oil company executives, environmental activists, Inupiat people, small business people, and the US military boldly worked together to rescue the whales.

He also tells the stories of some of the more than a hundred international journalists who brought the story to the world's attention. The rescue was followed by millions of people around the world as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev joined the forces of their two nations to help free the whales.