Shark Trouble: True Stories and Lessons About the SeaDrawing on more than three decades of experience writing about sharks and other marine animals, the bestselling author of Jaws combines high adventure with practical information in a book that is at once a thriller and a valuable guide to being safe in, on, under, and around the sea. “Shark attacks on human beings generate a tremendous amount of media coverage,” Benchley writes, “partly because they occur so rarely, but mostly, I think, because people are, and always have been, simultaneously intrigued and terrified by sharks. Sharks come from a wing of the dark castle where our nightmares live—deep water beyond our sight and understanding—and so they stimulate our fears and fantasies and imaginations.” Benchley describes the many types of sharks (including the ones that pose a genuine threat to man), what is and isn’t known about shark behavior, the odds against an attack and how to reduce them even further—all reinforced with the lessons he has learned, the mistakes he has made, and the personal perils he has encountered while producing television documentaries, bestselling novels, and articles about the sea and its inhabitants. He tells how to swim safely in the ocean, how to read the tides and currents, what behavior to avoid, and how to survive when danger suddenly strikes. He discusses how to tell children about sharks and the sea and how to develop, in young and old alike, a healthy respect for the ocean. As Benchley says, “The ocean is the only alien and potentially hostile environment on the planet into which we tend to venture without thinking about the animals that live there, how they behave, how they support themselves, and how they perceive us. I know of no one who would set off into the jungles of Malaysia armed only with a bathing suit, a tube of suntan cream, and a book, and yet that’s precisely how we approach the oceans.” No longer. Not after you’ve read Shark Trouble. |
Contents
How Little We Know | |
Jaws | |
Part III | |
How to Avoid Shark Attack | |
PART III | |
Dangerous to Man? Moray Eels Killer Whales Barracudas | |
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ABC SPORTS animal apex predator arms bait baitfish barracuda beach bite bitten blood blue boat body bottom breath broomstick bubbles bull sharks cage camera catch caught Clayton coral creatures dangerous David Doubilet deep dive master dolphin drift eyes fact feeding feet long film fins fish fishermen flesh float food chain giant squid gone grabbed hammerheads happen head human Islands Jaws killed killer whales knew legs live lobsters longimanus looked mako manta Michele monster moray eels mouth move movie nature never numbers ocean octopuses offshore once overboard pectoral fins PETER BENCHLEY population prey reef rope runout sand scientists sea lions Sea of Cortez shark attacks ship shore snorkelers South Australia species of sharks Stan Waterman stingray story summer surface survive swam swim swimmers tail tank teeth thousand tiger shark trying underwater village watched waves Wendy wetsuit white shark