The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark Behavior

by A. Peter Klimley

Challenges misconceptions about natural shark behavior, describing how sharks participate in intricate social relationships, their preference for non-human prey, and their elaborate biological survival activities, in a study that invites conservation efforts. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Nature, Memoir, Biology

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Ming Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book well writen, I learnt many new things about Sharks from this book, very informative, well writen, good editorial standards, really enjoyable book

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part detective story, Peter Klimley has written a gripping and humorous account of his career discovering social behaviors in sharks, mainly hammerheads and white sharks. Each discovery is presaged by the odd little observations that don't quite fit current models, followed by a logical process (if this is true, then that also must be true), followed by testing. In most cases, Klimley has to work in the field and not in laboratory conditions, so his testing is often the gathering of better data in the field. This lends itself to good reading; the account of Klimley's testing of his "Orca fear" hypothesis (my coinage, not Klimley's) is goofy and inspiring.

The weak part of the book is the final chapter. Those who have read any book about wildlife over the past forty years has read some version of this chapter. It is a plea for human responsibility in our role in global ecology. While there is nothing wrong with this chapter, Klimley goes from an entire book filled with personal observations and reminiscences to an abstract global perspective. The book would have been better served if Klimley had spoken personally and encapsulated what has inspired him over the past forty years and brought that around to a more global vision that can include the reader's life. I was kind of left with a feeling like the best I could do to help sharks is to hope that someday an aquarium is able to display a white shark, and I found this to be a little disappointing.

So I've deducted a star for the last chapter, but I added it on again because sharks.

[G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially a memoir of a well-known shark biologist. He writes about different stages of his career, including his research preoccupations, and along the way the reader learns something about sharks. Some episodes are funny, such as when Klimley attempted to dress himself as a killer whale to observe how certain species of shark would react to him, but most of the book is more about the challenges the author faced in pursuing his primary research questions.

I was hoping that this book would be more focused on the sharks themselves than the work of the author, as the subtitle of the book would seem to indicate, but the narative was somewhat more human-oriented than shark-oriented, despite almost always having the study of sharks as the main focus. I did learn some interesting detail about hammerhead sharks and great white sharks, two of the species that Klimley spent the bulk of his career studying. But I would have enjoyed the book more if it had included fewer details of the author's professional challenges and more details of particular and specific observations of sharks and their behavior. I expect that readers with a solid interest in what it is like to be a Marine Biologist specializing in sharks would find this book very interesting.

[Elizabeth Buerke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty interesting. Some parts were a little technical so I lost interest at those parts. Overall, a good book.

[Alleydancer07 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Klimley's research 'novel' was quite good - The Secret Life of Sharks is based on the research he had done on hammerheads and white sharks in the early 90's around the Sea of Cortez and the Farallon Islands, and a lot of his work was pivotal in clearing up many of the misrepresentations of sharks as mindless feeding machines that had been painted so well by Hollywood and the media.

The book reads like a story, but Klimley goes into great detail about the research methodology he used in his experiments; what went wrong, what worked, his frustrations and his elations all seamlessly married into the scientific aspects of the book. It doesn't fall into the trap of 'dry research paper', and the science is solid while still engaging. The book could be enjoyed by a fellow researcher or someone who has never taken an interest in scientific research - and it certainly opens your eyes about how intelligent, discerning and sensitive these creatures really are. Klimley's research in the 1990's was groundbreaking - this book is a story of that journey, and a testament to dispelling myths and revering animals that need both our respect and our protection.

[Artemis · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some weird areas that I feel like the editing team should have caught and removed, but...

The stories, about the sharks, were great. I loved learning about the journey.

There were also references to a photo section that, I don't have?
If somebody has the photo section in their book - please let me know. I can't see any spot where there's a missing photo section so I'm confused about if I received a broken book or if there was a bigger problem with the editing team than I realized.

That being said, there were a couple moments where the editing team shoulda probably advised ono some edits. Namely the part where he talked about how the research team used a telescope to watch nudists on a beach who thought they were in a sheltered area and couldn't be seen...................................... This could have gotten 4-5/5 stars from me but that was just weird and left a sour taste in my mind. I just don't get why you'd ever think that is a good idea to include in a book.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is a little misleading. It sounds like it would be a book with lots of facts so at the end you'll know some kind of deep knowledge about the behavior and biology of sharks. That's not what it is. It's stories from the author's life doing shark research. He does a really good job telling about his research in a way that's down-to-earth and interesting. There is information about sharks but it's mostly the story of the research and the crazy adventures and experiences of the people that went into it.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about sharks from this book and find them even more fascinating. We need to keep all species going to keep our world spinning. Sharks have an important job as does every other animal in the Animal Kingdom. This book will give you the reasons way more conservation efforts need to made to protect these animals. Plus, sharks are not the man-eaters people believe they are. We are invading their home and domain. Along with Orcas, sharks are the masters on their home and we need to respect their home.

[April Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this would make a fun read for summer - I wish I had been able to go to the beach to read it. :) It had a lot of interesting information both about sharks and about the methods used by the scientists who study them. I do think it would be even better if there had been larger and more pictures.

[Foggygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read but the book was published in 2003 and I get the impression that some of the information about sharks in general and the white sharks in particlar may be out of date. But still a good read.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klimley's a pretty terrible writer, but what saves this book is that the research is so interesting that even bad prose can't ruin it.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I expected this to be more like "The Devil's Teeth," which it wasn't.

Parts were interesting but I didn't find it as captivating as I had hoped it would be.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not as good as some of the other Great White Shark books I've read.

[Curt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well written. Interesting to see his opinion of sharks and their behavior change over the years.

[Helenne Velasquez]

why cant i read the books that i resulted

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information is there, but the writing is really awful.

[George Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book for the layman and the marine biologist alike. Easy to access and full of knowledge nuggets.

[Lucas Toovey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight in to the life of a shark scientist. I did already have a fascination with sharks but could
not put it down!

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review: http://www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blo...