Product Description

Marine biologist Pete Klimley swims with the sharks. He was one of the first scientists to free-dive among sharks, and he has spent nearly thirty years studying shark behavior, sometimes swimming in schools of several hundred sharks. From his firsthand observations he has learned that sharks are not the vicious man-eaters that we imagine, but fascinating animals with complex behaviors.

Most people who think of sharks at all think immediately of great white sharks. But there are more than four hundred species of shark. Dr. Klimley has studied several species, most notably the great white and the hammerhead. (He describes the great white as the athlete among sharks, and the hammerhead as the Ph.D. of the shark world.) In The Secret Life of Sharks Dr. Klimley reveals the significant discoveries he made about hammerhead navigation and great white eating habits. By studying hammerheads gathered around underwater seamounts, Dr. Klimley learned that hammerheads rely on sophisticated tracking of ocean-floor magnetism to navigate. His long-term study of great white sharks off the California coast demonstrated that these huge sharks prefer to eat seals and sea lions because of the energy contained in their fatty bodies. They are selective eaters, not the man-eaters we expect, and they sometimes go weeks between meals. But Dr. Klimley did observe a ritualized behavior that great whites practice in order to avoid deadly disputes over prey that one shark has captured and another wants.

Although we have learned a great deal about shark behavior, says Dr. Klimley, there is much that we do not know. Unfortunately we are destroying these magnificent creatures of the deep through overfishing and degradation of the oceans. Already some populations of sharks have declined steeply.

Vividly written by one of the foremost authorities on sharks, The Secret Life of Sharks is a fascinating account of some of the world's most magnificent animals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1255175 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.com Review
Like many an earnest marine biologist before him, A. Peter Klimley wants you to see sharks as more than dumb predators. But what makes The Secret Life of Sharks unique is that Klimley has spent his entire adult life in close contact with sharks and offers an autobiographical peek into the lives of these fearsome fish. "I remember once placing my hand on the back of a large white shark as it moved like a locomotive alongside of my boat. Its body was warm... " Klimley recalls, evoking both shudders and fascination from readers who might sooner stick their hand in a campfire. This hippie-turned-professor regales readers with adventurous tales, the stuff of Shark Week legend, as well as more prosaic narrative--his progression through grad school, failed experiments, and calls for shark conservation. Klimley succeeds in helping readers understand shark behavior by comparing them to more familiar animals. He provides his own conclusions about what sharks' body movements might convey, their interactions with prey and each other, and why their attacks on humans might be the result of simple misunderstanding. --Therese Littleton

From Booklist
Sharks. The word alone conveys a sense of menace and power that is fully at home in a medium that is not our own. Inspired to study the behavior of sharks by watching the behavior of his tropical fish, and disgusted by the image given to sharks by movies such as Jaws, Klimley, a marine biologist, has studied sharks for almost 30 years and was one of the first scientists to free-dive among these apex predators. His memoir of shark stories discusses a life of research conducted on a group of animals that are among the most feared and hated. He ends with a plea for global conservation. Told in the first person with immediacy and excitement, this takes readers into the scientific research process and allows them to share in the discoveries. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Jean-Michel Cousteau President, Ocean Futures Society When it comes to sharks, Dr. Peter Klimley has answered the true call of adventure -- to see for himself, up close. His pioneering work reveals sharks' secrets, including their decline, and puts to rest the myth of the shark as a mindless feeding machine. Equally important, his story reminds us that fear is never a good guide. His direct, informed observations make for good science, and for good reading. -- Review

Customer Reviews

Not what the title suggests...
I was really disappointed by this book. By the title, I expected it to cover shark behavior. Unfortunately, it was mainly a biography of the author with very little about shark behavior. This is not a criticism of the author, a respected expert on sharks, but if you want to learn about shark behavior, I suggest checking this book out in the store before buying it or you may be disappointed. I sent mine back for a refund.

The truth is right here!
Did everything you know about sharks come from watching JAWS? Do you think that there is a real truth out there beyond the hype on the silver screen? If you want to find out what sharks are REALLY like, A. Peter Klimley's THE SECRET LIFE OF SHARKS will explain the mysteries of shark behavior, and you might find that what sharks actually do is much more amazing than anything that has been seen in the movies!

As a professional biologist, college instructor, and life-long shark aficionado, I was about to embark on a late July "dream" trip to South Africa to participate in a white shark research project. I read this book hoping to get a bit of insight into the animal that I was going half-way around the world to study, and THE SECRET LIFE OF SHARKS provided that and a great deal more. Dr. Klimley effectively blends hard science and a spirit of adventure into an exciting and informative story about his 30 years of studying sharks. He describes the amazing ability of hammerheads to navigate through the featureless oceans using the earth's magnetic fields, explains how huge white sharks avoid "tooth to tooth" combat with each other by communicating with thundering tail slaps, offers reasonable and reassuring explanations for shark attacks on humans, and much more. He dispels the outdated myth that sharks are mindless killing machines, and presents them as evolutionary perfection with special senses, complex social behaviors, and unique physiological adaptations to the sea. By diving with sharks, observing them from land and sea, and even dressing up as a killer whale to swim with them, he has developed an understanding and appreciation of these amazing fish, and provides compelling reasons for their conservation. Enjoy this book and you, too, will hopefully become a champion for these fascinating and endangered animals.

Life beyond shark week
By now, any nature enthusiast is well aware of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and has seen endless footage of sharks doing exciting things... like biting fish, and biting surfers, and biting seals, and, well pretty much just biting stuff. But there's a lot more to these gorgeous, fascinating animals than their teeth. Similarly, there's a lot more to being a scientist than just riding around in boats taking pretty pictures. When the film crews pack up and go home, the scientist is left with reams of data from which to extract something meaningful. It takes creativity, training, passion, and endless hours of tedious but meticulous work, and very few people are zealous enough to take on the challenge. These are the things that Pete Klimley tries to show us in his new book. He sheds light onto some of the interesting aspects of shark behavior that he has studied, and shows how he approached the research -- actual science, not the made for TV version.

It's true, the title is somewhat misleading -- this is more a book about being a scientist -- but it's a good read, well written, and well worth the time for anyone who is curious about what goes on behind the shark week glamour.