Before Henry William Dewhurst established himself in Bloomsbury, where he lectured in 1827–8 on anatomy and physiology, he served as a ship's surgeon and made a journey to Greenland and its surrounding seas in 1824. During that time he was able to study the large Arctic creatures that fascinated him, especially whales. In the decade after his return, he prepared this thorough description of polar sea life. Published in 1834, it includes many engraved illustrations. Whales were of especial interest in this period, owing to the use of their blubber in many household objects, and Dewhurst also touches on the practice of whaling. His work was one of the first studies to examine the different species of whales, as well as dolphins and other marine life. It stands as an important contribution to the development of Arctic zoology.