The Great White Shark Hunter. Tyler's (aka "The Shark Whisperer") passion for sharks has taken him to the ends of the earth to places few people get to see. He shares his shark secrets in a riveting account of adventure and discovery on our blue planet. As he describes what makes sharks tick, he offers up insights that will make you rethink the way you look at these enigmatic and mystifying creatures. Readers looking for an exciting read on all things sharky will enjoy this highly readable, informative, and visually stunning book. "Tyler's Great White Shark Hunter is the most important and entertaining shark book for anyone who has an interest in these wonderful animals." —Chris Mahoney About the Author Tyler Stewart is a lifelong devotee to sharks and is recognized by his peers as a world-renowned expert on great white sharks. Author of The Great White Shark Hunter: Learning to Love the Fear, author Dr. Tom Ryberg is the Director of Research and Conservation for Great Whiteshark Trust, as well as a former research scientist with UBC Oceans Institute, who has written and directed award-winning films on sharks including Sharks Alive!, and Sharkwater: Blood in the Water. Contents Introduction Acknowledgments 1. The Great White Shark Hunter: Learning to Love the Fear 2. The Great White 3. Great White Size and Strength 4. Life Cycle and Reproduction of the Great White Shark 5. Predators, Past and Present 6. Behavior and Communication in the Great White 7. Feeding and Nutrition 8. Life in Shallow Waters 9. The Threat of Human Interference to Sea Life and the Wider Environment 10. Understanding the Great White 11. What Is to Be Done? Notes Resources Photo Credits Introduction For over 40 years I have had a deep love for sharks. It started as a little kid in Cape Town, South Africa, the son of a commercial fisherman. That was my upbringing, and I can vividly remember the ocean. The shoreline was a busy place in winter and summer—fishing boats came in loaded with squid, octopus, mussels, oysters, and abalone. It was my job to help unload the dories, and at the time I was mesmerized by these creatures that could bite off an entire leg with one snap. As I grew up I worked on my father's fishing boat off the coast of Baja California. Those were days of hard work, and I can remember all the gear that was carried on board: anchor, chain, tackle, line, buckets, and the fishing gear itself. At night we had a couple of hours to play by the light of a gas lantern. That was the time for the boys to take their turn at the wheel, and we'd motor out to the fishing grounds, which could be several miles away. There were days when my father brought in 10 or 20 sharks; most of the crew wouldn't be interested in killing anything. In fact, sharks would become the highlight of our trips. I can remember how the deckhands would go crazy when a great white was spotted, and they'd rush to get a good look. Those were sights that were forever etched into my memory—like a huge white elephant standing in the ocean at night. You know how I know that these are unforgettable experiences? I have photographs of them and I can still remember every detail of those moments. I came to realize at a young age that the ocean was more than just a place where the fish live. It was an amazing place. Even now, in an era of instant information at the press of a button, the ocean still has a way of making you take a deep breath. Maybe it's the thought of the depth and vastness of the ocean—it's almost unlimited. It's vast and still—never reaching temperatures over 100°F (38°C) or going above 80 feet (24 m) in depth. So I became a diver at a very young age, and I can still remember diving down into the shark cage. I remember how you had to hold your breath for a long time, and how excited you were as you dived deeper into the ocean. That made the shark sound all the more exciting, and it created a desire to see them in their environment. As a youngster my dream was to visit the Great Barrier Reef, to live on the Gold Coast of Australia, to go sailing in the Pacific Ocean. That's how I grew up. That's what I loved to do. But even then I had a passion for sharks. I spent my teenage years watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries, and I would try to imagine how these sharks might be different from other creatures. I read books about sharks and about diving in general. Over the years, I've learned a great deal about sharks and have gained a profound respect for them. Some people regard me as something of a guru when it comes to sharks; others think of me as a bit of an eccentric. In my profession, as I'm often working with sharks in situations that many people wouldn't even consider risking their lives, I think there's a bit of both. If I wasn't in my work on a boat, I'd be out in the water doing research—either diving or swimming with great whites. It's not an easy sport to get into; I had to work hard to gain the respect of the shark guys and women. In some ways the sharks were my teachers. Through trial and error I learned a great deal about the dynamics of working around great whites in their natural environment. In fact, I learned how to swim with them and work in the cage. Through sheer persistence, I developed my skills and knowledge of these magnificent animals. When I first started, I had the idea that I could "dominate" the sharks, that I'd never be taken by one. I can still remember my first dive, in the shallows in La Paz, Mexico, where I was swimming with sharks and at the same time documenting them. It was a great way to start out—just swim with them for a bit until I got used to them, and to know what they were up to. At first the sharks were quite shy; but once we had become accustomed to each other, we became very fast friends. But getting used to the sharks wasn't easy. I had always believed the stereotype of sharks being cold-blooded animals with a one-track mind. It wasn't that way at all. Over time I learned that great whites like to be around other fish; they're not going to just sit in a cage and look at the divers. They also have a much better sense of smell and sonar than you would imagine. This became an important factor for me when I got into some serious water. It is truly amazing the amount of information you can get from the sounds made underwater. When I swim with great whites, I can find out where they are in a cage by listening to them. The main threat to the sharks has been man and his actions, whether they're man-made or man-influenced. Because of this, I learned to live with sharks, not fear them. I realized that it was quite dangerous to put a fish in a cage. I soon realized that great whites were not going to tolerate a human being in a cage for very long. This all goes back to the natural behavior of sharks. Sharks swim around in schools of 50 to 100 individuals; they don't attack individual fish. In other words, sharks don't attack fish, even great whites, unless there is an attack-or-be-attacked situation. If a small juvenile great white is swimming along the surface of the ocean, for example, and a big male shark from the shallows enters the water, that smaller great white has no idea whether this male is going to attack it. It just sits there, waiting. However, that same shark might have an attitude problem if a smaller fish decided to swim right in front of him or if he was at a feeding frenzy, and all hell broke loose in the ocean. When a human diver puts himself in harm's way to get closer to a shark, a shark will not hesitate. A shark will attack out of defense, but that's not the same thing as attacking a human being. They'll attack you because they think you're trying to harm them. Over time, I learned to know how to handle the sharks. When I go diving now, there are only a few other divers and only a few sharks, and I can feel that there is a certain tension between us. If I am diving in water with predators, I realize I can be attacked. So it takes quite a bit of work and a lot of experience before you learn what it means to work with these animals. My understanding of the environment is that sharks can't be the predators we want them to be because they're not meant to be. They evolved so long ago that they've developed certain survival strategies and attributes. Sharks' only chance of survival is to swim away and get to a place where they can feed themselves—for example, they can swim toward the seagrass beds, and they can go onto the sand. Great whites can swim across sand from shallow to deeper water, and they will come across fish or squid that have made it ashore. This is where sharks are most vulnerable. The Shark