A dark, triangular fin slicing through the water can be a terrifying sight. Read the stories of the brave (and lucky) people who have survived real-life shark attacks, such as spearfisher Rodney Fox, who was grabbed by a great white, and Mick Fanning, attacked during a surfing contest. Find out which shark species are involved, what causes attacks, how dolphins have saved people, how to fight back, and much more. Fascinating facts and brilliant photography capture the drama, but don't worry—you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bitten by a shark!
The University of Florida has an ambitious goal: to harness the power of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni to solve some of society’s most pressing problems and to become a resource for the state of Florida, the nation, and the world. In 1958, a panel funded by the Office of Naval Research initiated the formation of the International Shark Attack File, the first comprehensive documentation of shark attacks on a global and historical level. In 1988, the file was transferred to the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. It is part of the Florida Program for Shark Research, directed by George H. Burgess, the planet’s expert on shark attacks, and staffed by a world-renowned team of research scientists and educators. Travel the globe with Burgess, the Sherlock Holmes of shark attacks, as he studies mauled remains and the scars of the lucky survivors. His most famous case took him to an idyllic Red Sea resort where panic had set in after five attacks occurred in a single week. The attacks were carried out by Oceanic White Tips and a Mako, deep-water species that had no business being so close to the beach. Following the clues--dive-boat operators feeding sharks by hand to entertain tourists, the disappearance of the yearly tuna catch, and the dead sheep New Zealand cargo companies had been tossing overboard--Burgess solves the mystery of the shark attacks for Egyptian tourism officials and offers a list of best practices. But not all cases end with an easy prescription. In St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, he visits a recent shark-attack victim, bitten just off her dock on Boca Ciega Bay. While the victim would prefer to forget the fateful day the sharp-toothed jaws of the Bull Shark latched onto her leg just below the knee, Burgess gently coaxes the story from her. It will go in the file, to educate other shark researchers and educators and help us better understand the world’s most feared predator. The stories chronicled in Gatorbytes span all colleges and units across the UF campus. They detail the far reaching impact of UF’s research, technologies, and innovations--and the UF faculty members dedicated to them. Gatorbytes describe how UF is continuing to build on its strengths and extend the reach of its efforts so that it can help even more people in even more places.
A detailed account of over one hundred shark-related incidents on the coast of the Carolinas from a shark-bite investigator Powerful and mysterious, sharks inspire both fascination and fear. Worldwide, oceans are home to some five-hundred species, and of those, fifty-six are known to reside in or pass through the waters off the coast of both North and South Carolina. At any given time, waders, swimmers, and surfers enjoying these waters are frequently within just one-hundred feet of a shark. While it's unnerving to know that sharks often swim just below the surface in the shallows, W. Clay Creswell, a shark-bite investigator for the Shark Research Institute's Global Shark Attack File, explains that attacks on humans are extremely rare. In 2019 the International Shark Attack File confirmed sixty-four unprovoked attacks on humans, including three in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. While acknowledging that they pose real dangers to humans, Creswell believes the fear of sharks is greatly exaggerated. During his sixteen-year association with the Shark Research Institute, he has investigated more than one hundred shark-related incidents and has maintained a database of all shark–human encounters along the Carolina coastlines back to 1817. Creswell uses this data to expose the truth and history of this often-sensationalized topic. Beyond the statistics related to attacks in the Carolina waters, Sharks in the Shallows offers a history of shark–human interactions and an introduction to the world of shark attacks. Creswell details the conditions that increase a person's chances of an encounter, profiles the three species most often involved in attacks, and reveals the months and time of day with the highest probability of an encounter. With a better understanding of sharks' responses to their environment, and what motivates them to attack humans, he hopes people will develop a greater appreciation of the invaluable role sharks play in our marine environment.
The biggest-ever selection of first-hand accounts and news reports of shark attacks, both recent and historical, shows how sharks are masters of the ocean and how we enter their domain at our own risk. Think you're safe in the Med? Read about the Great Whites that thrive near holiday beaches. Think you're safe in large groups? Read about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945 when hundreds of sailors floated for days in shark-infested waters, being picked off one-by-one. Think you're safe at home? Read about the 69-year-old man, taking his regular evening swim, jumping off his backyard dock straight into the mouth of a bull shark. Many more extraordinary and gruesome accounts, including the shark-boat skipper who slit open the belly of a 360-kg tiger shark only to have a human head, pelvis, and arm come tumbling out, provide horrific and moving tales of shark encounters. The courage of survivors and those who have risked their lives to save shark attack victims is truly inspirational. Where can you find sharks? Features on different shark species with illustrations, fact boxes and maps show where they lurk around the world. Also included are a selection of full-colour photographs and special sections on the life cycle of a shark, how to avoid a shark attack and how to survive one.
A set of stripes and an insatiable appetite link the tiger shark to its earthbound namesake. The voracious fish will eat just about anything from sea turtles to trashed tires. Its unrestrained appetite puts it among the top three most dangerous sharks. Get up close and personal with one of the oceanÕs most fearsome predators in this exciting book for growing readers.
In this remarkable groundbreaking book, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks—magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans and ultimately the planet. From the Jaws blockbusters to Shark Week, we are conditioned to see sharks as terrifying cold-blooded underwater predators. But as Ocean Guardian founder William McKeever reveals, sharks are evolutionary marvels essential to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. We can learn much from sharks, he argues, and our knowledge about them continues to grow. The first book to reveal in full the hidden lives of sharks, Emperors of the Deep examines four species—Mako, Tiger, Hammerhead, and Great White—as never before, and includes fascinating details such as: Sharks are 50-million years older than trees; Sharks have survived five extinction level events, including the one that killed off the dinosaurs; Sharks have electroreception, a sixth-sense that lets them pick up on electric fields generated by living things; Sharks can dive 4,000 feet below the surface; Sharks account for only 6 human fatalities per year, while humans kill 100 million sharks per year. McKeever goes back through time to probe the shark’s pre-historic secrets and how it has become the world’s most feared and most misunderstood predator, and takes us on a pulse-pounding tour around the world and deep under the water’s surface, from the frigid waters of the Arctic Circle to the coral reefs of the tropical Central Pacific, to see sharks up close in their natural habitat. He also interviews ecologists, conservationists, and world-renowned shark experts, including the founders of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, the head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, and the self-professed “last great shark hunter.” At once a deep-dive into the misunderstood world of sharks and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep celebrates this wild species that hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ocean—if we can prevent their extinction from climate change and human hunters.
Every summer, thousands flock to the Jersey Shore for its beaches and boardwalks, but lurking in the depths beyond is a historic threat to tranquility. Dozens of shark attacks and interactions have occurred throughout Jersey Shore history that reveal bravery, heartbreak and the hubris of man. A boy paid a gruesome price for teasing a trapped shark in the first recorded attack in 1842. The three bloody attacks of 1960 left one man's limb amputated. The horrific summer of 1916 included seven attacks in a two-week span and crafted the caricature of the killer shark that remains in popular culture today. Authors Patricia and Robert Heyer dive into the history of when two apex predators, man and shark, cross paths on the shores of New Jersey.
Humans spend more time in or on the water than ever before. We love the beach. But for many people, getting in the water provokes a moment’s hesitation. Shark attacks are big news events and although the risk of shark attack on humans is incredibly low, the fact remains that human lives are lost to sharks every year. Shark Attacks explores the tension between risk to humans and the need to conserve sharks and protect the important ecological roles they play in our marine environments. Marine biologist Blake Chapman presents scientific information about shark biology, movement patterns and feeding behaviour. She discusses the role of fear in the way we think about sharks and the influence of the media on public perceptions. Moving first-hand accounts describe the deep and polarising psychological impacts of shark attacks from a range of perspectives. This book is an education in thinking through these emotive events and will help readers to navigate the controversial issues around mitigating shark attacks while conserving the sharks themselves.
