The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark BehaviorMarine 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. |
Contents
1 | |
CrossSpecies Dressing | 17 |
Shark Sex in the Miami Seaquarium | 31 |
Diving with Sharks in Southern California | 46 |
Swimming with Hammerhead Sharks | 62 |
Solving the Mystery of Hammerhead Schools | 84 |
Shark Rush Hour at Gorda Seamount | 103 |
Hammerhead Sharks as Ocean Navigators | 126 |
In Quest of the White Shark | 145 |
Other editions - View all
The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries ... A. Peter Klimley No preview available - 2003 |
The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries ... A. Peter Klimley No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
animal Año Nuevo Año Nuevo Island aquarium bait beach beacon behavior biologist bite blood blue sharks boat body bottom buoy cage camera carcass Caudal chum clasper close coast color depth detected direction display distance dive elephant seals Espíritu Santo Farallon Islands feet long female fish fisheries floating front Gorda gray Gulf of California hammerhead sharks head hydrophone indicating jaws killer whale Klimley later lemon sharks length leopard sharks lifted Lighthouse Hill looked magnetic male merhead meters miles monitor mouth moved northern elephant seal nurse sharks observed ocean panga pinniped position predator predatory attacks prey recorded reef rock scalloped hammerhead scalloped hammerhead sharks Scripps sea lion Sea World seamount shark attack sharks swimming sheep shore side slowly snout sonobuoys sound spear species splash swam Tail Slap temperature tion track transmitter underwater waves white shark