The Great White Shark Hunter The Great White Shark Hunter, by Nick Reding, is an outstanding book that I would rate a solid 4 stars. However, I’m not giving it that rating because I love it so much that I want to; rather, I’m giving it that rating because I don’t feel that I can. Reding is a marine biologist and shark researcher who has devoted the past twenty years of his life to researching great white sharks. The main argument of the book is that great white sharks have been demonized by environmentalists, by other shark researchers, and by the media for decades. Reding argues that these perceptions are often based upon the media’s own ignorance of sharks and their behavior, as well as the bias of environmental groups against fishing, both of which ignore the potential for sharks to act as an important conservation tool. Instead of being scared of sharks, Reding argues that they should be studied and brought into a positive relationship with humans. I liked this book and found it to be very well written and enjoyable, as well as incredibly informative about the natural world. However, I have a few minor criticisms of the book, which I address in the appendix. My only other criticism is Reding’s choice to leave out several topics related to the book’s arguments and their effects on the arguments. I’m going to list a few issues that I thought should have been covered in the book, all of which have large implications for the book’s arguments, but are all completely omitted from the book. I have no doubt that these topics are fully addressed in Reding’s voluminous research. One of the largest concerns with sharks is their propensity for attacking humans. To this end, a paper by Samuel J. McFadden and his coauthors addresses shark attacks from 1976 to 2006 in Queensland, Australia. In this paper, published in the journal Ecological Modelling, the authors argue that a substantial percentage of shark attacks are not the result of “shark bites.” Instead, they argue that the attacks could be the result of marine mammals (such as seals) biting the shark, as these mammals are more prevalent in shark habitats. Therefore, their argument could imply that not only are sharks responsible for their own attacks, but that there is nothing that can be done to reduce shark attacks. To further this argument, Reding could have discussed the many, many shark attacks on surfers in South Africa. South Africa has no marine mammals and thus no sharks, but they nonetheless have a substantial number of shark attacks each year (more than sharks do in areas where marine mammals are present). I realize that this is a minor concern for this particular book, but it was a common occurrence in most shark documentaries in the past ten years. To my knowledge, this book was published last year, which meant that Reding could not have access to that information. While on the subject of sharks attacking humans, Reding could have discussed other cases where an animal bites a human, other than a shark. In particular, Reding could have included in this discussion the famous case of a Florida woman who had to undergo “extensive surgery” after she was attacked by a giant anaconda. (The link also explains that anacondas can grow to be thirty feet long.) There are several cases of animal attacks that did not lead to serious injury, such as the case of a dolphin that bit off the ear of a diver at Sharm el-Sheikh. He bit it off, yes, but did not tear it off or make a mark. There are cases of people being eaten by their own animals. Reding could have discussed the case of “Ben,” a man who was killed by his dog. The case happened in 2012 in the United Kingdom, and it involved an Alaskan malamute eating his own owner. This raises several issues about the relationship between animals and their owners. Was the malamute eating his owner because the owner did not “know his own dog”? Was the owner unable to control the malamute, so the malamute killed him? Reding could have touched on these issues if he was aware of the case. I have more comments on the book and on the topics it addresses, and those are all listed in the appendix at the end of this review. I could include those here, but they’re of no relevance to the actual text of the book. These are only critiques and suggestions for anyone considering buying it. If you are curious, or otherwise want a review of Reding’s book on one of my sites, you can find them here: Amazon.com BarnesandNoble.com Amazon.co.uk Audible.com (for a small fee) As a quick side note, I want to say that this review is based on an audiobook version of the book that was narrated by the author. The audiobook is also rated a solid 4 stars. Like this: Like Loading... Related June 16, 2013 Categories: Animal, Environmentalism, Shark, Wildlife . Author: Scott Weidensaul . 1 Comment Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI