The Shark-Watcher's Handbook : A Guide to Sharks and Where to See Them

Rating:
Summary: sharkwatching as it should be
Review: Let's say you want to meet a special shark-species face to face,for example silvertips and you want to know where the best chance of seeing them is-just use this book.

Rating:
Summary: Superb resource!
Review: My first experience of diving with a shark nearby was in Port Douglas, Australia in 2001. That was a single lonesome reef shark not moving much at all. Fortunately since then I have been able to dive in a few more places. Most recently in Palau (Feb 2004) where many of the dives had several sharks nearby. But, none more than the infamous Blue Corner.

It was then and there I gained a new appreciation and fascination for sharks. In total there must have been twenty+ sharks sighted in that dive alone including several that were no more than a couple of meters away swimming against the current with me. There was also a swarm of a dozen or so in the distance. This has to be one of the best experiences in my life. And that trip came amidst 7 months straight of traveling around the world.

Since then I've learned about Cocos Island, Galapagos, and South Africa as other places. High on my list too is to swim with whale sharks. To my great luck I came across this book on Amazon.

This well formatted book begins with sections on shark diving, history and public perceptions, then into tips on photography. The book then presents two page foldouts of all the major sharks that divers are likely to encounter and/or want to see. Hand drawn color pictures as well as the silhouette appearance (Cool!) of the shark underwater are shown too. On each foldout is a box with cross-references to the rest of the book which consists of maps and descriptions of 267 sites around the world. Every region of the world is covered. Each site is described in detail with weblinks to major tour operators. Appropriate "best season" info is also shown.

Now - I know where to dive with whale sharks and when to go! Prior evidence I found on the web was never complete and I am always leary of bias. Now there is a more objective resource. The great thing about this book is that places where sharks are located are usually great diving spots/areas. This book functions as a quasi diving guidebook.

Unfortunately, the picture isn't all pretty as described in the shark conservation section which talks about shark finning. I'll add sharks caught as by-catch of fishing for tuna too (BBC's Blue Planet book has a disturbing photo of 100 dead sharks on a purse-seine fishing boat). Do a google IMAGE search on SHARK FINS and you are bound to find more articles. National Geographic has good articles and disturbing photos on the shark finning industry.

I understand that the Blue Corner has been known to have up to 70 sharks. Perhaps I just wasn't there at the right time. Or perhaps the relentless overfishing of the ocean is affecting Palau too. It would be a shame to see such magnificent creatures be more or less wiped out save for a few remote areas by greed and ignorance (Palau is remote and it is under pressure too from the news I have read), if they aren't already in some areas.

This book is a great complement to BBC's Blue Planet video series and book as guides to understanding our world's oceans.

Rating:
Summary: Like the Title Says...
Review: The Shark Watcher's Handbook lives up to the odd title. Shark diving is rapidly becoming a major attraction in the world of Scuba diving, as more dive operators have added "shark dives" to their retinue of dive sites. Some of these dives involve the proto-typical divers in cages observing the Great White, others feature divers tucked against coral walls observing reef sharks in a feeding frenzy upon fish treats served up by the dive boat above. This book gives a brief discussion of sharks and shark diving in the first third. In the second third it lists illustrations of the world's most common sharks and basic facts about each. In the last third lists all of the major dive operations in the world that offer shark dives and the type of sharks they routinely find and the type of dives they lead. An excellent resource for the Scuba-holic addicted to the thrill of shark watching.

Rating:
Summary: Like the Title Says...
Review: The Shark Watcher's Handbook lives up to the odd title. Shark diving is rapidly becoming a major attraction in the world of Scuba diving, as more dive operators have added "shark dives" to their retinue of dive sites. Some of these dives involve the proto-typical divers in cages observing the Great White, others feature divers tucked against coral walls observing reef sharks in a feeding frenzy upon fish treats served up by the dive boat above. This book gives a brief discussion of sharks and shark diving in the first third. In the second third it lists illustrations of the world's most common sharks and basic facts about each. In the last third lists all of the major dive operations in the world that offer shark dives and the type of sharks they routinely find and the type of dives they lead. An excellent resource for the Scuba-holic addicted to the thrill of shark watching.