Sea Legs

A mother and daughter’s journey of caring, wonder and whales

A beautiful, lyrical memoir, in which a mother and her wheelchair-using, competitive swimmer daughter travel the North Sea and discover what whales, dolphins and orcas can teach us about care, disability and community

‘In the water, the boundaries between strength and vulnerability dissolve. We move like a tide. We have to wait for each other and watch each other’

Even though she lived just minutes from the sea, Eleanor had always been deeply afraid of swimming. So when her young daughter Oona, a full-time wheelchair user, took up aquatic physical therapy, she was surprised and inspired by her new-found confidence and freedom in the pool.

As they travel from their home in Edinburgh around Scotland’s coastline, and as Oona grows into a competitive swimmer, their relationships with nature, with local communities, and with each other, begin to grow. And as they encounter dolphins, great whales, and eventually, orcas, Eleanor and Oona learn that sea mammals have plenty to teach humans about care.

On a journey that takes them to Shetland, Iceland and further afield, mother and daughter discover dolphins thriving despite spinal deformities, and whales with missing jaw bones being fed by others in their pod. Deep in the ocean, everything Eleanor thought she knew about the survival of the fittest seems to have been washed away. In its place emerge ideas about another kind of society, one which values interdependence over independence, and encourages community.

Honest, insightful and life-affirming, Sea Legs challenges preconceptions about disability and celebrates the lessons we can learn from the natural world. It is a rallying cry for our connection to nature, to each other, and to our shared future together on this planet.

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