Shark: The Shadow Below

This an excellent overview of everything you wanted to know about shark attacks, statistics and the like. Great true stories are told, ranging from numerous amazing survival stories, to general patterns of attacks (and how to avoid one), historical and mythical stories, scientific facts, (eg fossils sets of teeth have been found which indicate extinct species of predators to 50 feet or more!), and analyses of attitudes to sharks over the years. Some of the stories described are simply amazing, and frightening. From people stalked by sharks for days whilst lost at sea, and survived to tell, to whole ships going down while sharks picked out their buddies one by one, to attacks in canals remote from the coast, to serial-type attacks and shark rogues, to sharks attacking rescuers, to picking out people in the middle rather than the edges of a crowd of swimmers, to people dragging the shark onto the shore whilst it held on and was then beaten to death, to lucky escapes, and so on. There are some tragic stories, but also some very inspiring survivals stories of people who fought off monsters, to people who survived for days swimming lost in the open ocean and coming onto dry reefs in the middle of nowhere. Not many people know that a former prime minister of Australia is beleived by some to have been taken by a shark whilst in office, having disappeared without trace off the Australian coast, nor do many know of attacks on small boats, whilst people were in them. It's all pretty frightenening, but the author puts it into perspective, there are many other creatures which are more dangerous, it is only the general unknown and our vulnerability in the sea which gives us our fears. There are patterns to attacks which the book goes into in some detail, by various researchers. In many cases attacks are by mistake, such as wetsuits resembling seals and so on. Colour of attire on those attacked seems to also play a part (bright orange on life jackets is not good). 35% of attacks are fatal. 62% occur in five feet of less of water. 63% of sharks were not seen by victims before attack. Only one in seven is the shark persistant after the intial attack. Divers fatality is smaller because they can see their attacker better, but divers form a high proportion of victims. No pattern is shown on skin colour, except that sharks are attracted to contrasts (eg suntanning). Great Whites have a higher fatality rate. Average length of shark attacking was 2.1m. 94% were made by single sharks. In most cases victims had their backs to the sea. In many cases they were left alone in the water after several people went to shore, such as in catching a wave. etc etc. There is much other useful information in the book, including how to avoid becoming a statistic.The book is an excellent overview of statistics and stories relating to attacks, and sharks in general. Recommended for aspiring sea-goers, and amatuer marine biologists at heart, as well as for the story teller on those dark