Like most obsessions in life, the author, Susan Casey's interest starting when she was watching the video documentary on BBC and was riveted by the sight of two men, Peter who is a famous ornithologist and Scot Anderson, sitting in a tiny boat surrounded by enormous great white shark at least 18 feet in length. She was shocked how the two scientist could thrive in such dangerous situation, thus igniting her interest in sharks. A few months later after watching the documentary, she found herself in the same situation as Peter and Scot in Southeast Farallon Island. These islands, originally dubbed "The Devil's Teeth" by sailors in the 1850s due to their dangerous and forbidding nature. This place also gave the book, " The Devil's Teeth its name.
Even though Farallon Island is only 27 miles from the main island, San Francisco, it is nearly impossible to be accessible to humans, and is a popular place for great white sharks to gather in the month of September and October. As a result, the wild Great White Sharks of the Farallons are among most studied great white sharks in the world. In some parts of the book, Susan Casey touches the on the history of seabird, whale and seal over-exploitation, politics, greed and human habitation. Although the author did not have many first hand experience on sharks, she has many second hand experience of the great white shark.
This book was written mainly to educate the public on the great white sharks. There were descriptions of the sharks, such as whiteslash, who was describe as maternal and gentle. Despite the ferocious looks on their faces, these amazing fishes are elegant and graceful in the water. The book tells us about Susan pursuing her desire to learn more about the great white shark from biologist from the island, Farallon.
No comments:
Post a Comment