The Shark Chronicles; A Scientist Tracks the Consummate Predator

by John A. Musick and Beverly McMillan

• ISBN13: 9780805070934
• ISBN10: 0805070931
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2002-09-04
• Publisher: Times Books

Summary

Many animals elicit the same mythical terror and awe as sharks, and yet we know little about these elusive, highly engineered creatures. John A. Musick and Beverly McMillan bring us along on a thrilling adventure as they chase sharks from Bear Gulch, Montana, to a whale shark-feeding station in Okinawa, by way of Alaska, the Bimini islands, and the most sophisticated shark-research labs in the world. En route we discover that sharks navigate using electromagnetic signals, have a bloodhound's sense of smell, are both cold- and warm-blooded, and possess biochemical weapons, which, used properly, might indeed help fend off malignant tumors and microbes. Musick, who has spent over thirty years as a defender of the much-maligned shark, here excavates the mysterious lives of sharks from the dark recesses of the oceans--and raising the alarm about how fishing and industry are reducing their numbers and affecting their behavior. This captivating and educational scientific exploration challenges us to rethink our relationship with sharks, leaving us with the question: Are humans the prey, or the predator?

Author Biography

John Musick is an internationally-recognized shark researcher and professor of marine science at the College of William and Mary. He lives in Gloucester, Virginia.

Beverly McMillan is author of Titanic: Fortune and Fate and co-author of Oceans: Life in the Deep. She lives in Gloucester, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Authors' Note	xi
Prologue	1	(4)
In the Beginning	5	(28)
The Players	33	(24)
Fearful Symmetry	57	(24)
Sex, Sharks, and Videotape	81	(20)
Eye, Ear, Nose, and Snout	101	(24)
Shark Worlds	125	(18)
The Carnivore Cafe	143	(12)
Shark Eats Man	155	(24)
The Shark Pharmacy	179	(18)
Man Eats Shark	197	(22)
Epilogue	219	(4)
Appendix	223	(4)
Acknowledgments	227	(6)
Index	233