Erich Hoyt, represented by Victoria Wells Arms, is a whale researcher, lecturer and author who has written more than 20 books including adult narrative nonfiction and children’s books on whales, dolphins, deep sea creatures, ants and other social insects. Two of his books have been optioned for feature films. As Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) in England, he has investigated the dialects and feeding habits of Russian killer whales, co-discovered a new species of beaked whale, and helped obtain protection for large ocean habitats for whales. As co-chair of a special Task Force on Protected Areas for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, he has helped design and implement a new spatial tool for whale and marine mammal conservation.
Erich has received more than 20 awards for his writing and conservation work including the Vannevar Bush Fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the American Society of Journalists & Authors for Creatures of the Deep. In 2013 the European Cetacean Society awarded him the Mandy McMath Conservation Award for his body of work. Twice he was named James Thurber writer-in-residence at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. An American-Canadian dual citizen, he currently lives on the Jurassic coast of Dorset, England, with his wife Sarah and four children.