Books about Sharks
Shark Research Institute Shark Shoppe Proceeds from sales of these items go toward sustaining SRI's Mission. Our goal is provide you with a comprehensive list of the best shark related books available. Some of the books were written or co-written by SRI members. The small amount of commission we get from Amazon.com goes toward our efforts, so if you are going to by at Amazon please buy through SRI. ~ Thanks! |
The Great Sperm Whale: A Natural History of the Ocean’s Most Magnificent and Mysterious Creature by Richard Ellis. Univ. of Kansas. 432pp. $34.95.
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My Father, The Captain, My Life with Jacques Cousteau by Jean-Michel Cousteau. “This is the best sea story ever; the saga of being the first son of the legendary ocean explorer, Jacques Cousteau — a boy thrust into history-making adventures in the unknown depths of the sea and, while discovering the nature of the world, finding the human side of his father, deep respect for his mother, and a place in the world for himself.”...Sylvia Earle BUY IT HERE: My Father, the Captain: My Life With Jacques Cousteau |
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National Geographic Kids Everything Sharks: All the shark facts, photos, and fun that you can sink your teeth into by Ruth A. Musgrave, David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes WOW! National Geographic has produced another winner! This is a superb book for 9-12 year olds and perfect for getting those 30 minutes of reading in per day. With a wealth of fascinating facts about sharks and spectacular photographs, the book is perfect for all young shark-lovers. The book is also very useful in teaching students how to read graphs, diagrams, and maps. And, for those looking for resources, there's enough info here to really help out with a research paper on sharks. Highly recommended! National Geographic Kids Everything Sharks: All the shark facts, photos, and fun that you can sink your teeth into |
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The Sharks of North America by Jose Castro, Illustrations by Diane Rome Peebles This reference guide describes 135 species of sharks found in North American waters and summarizes the present knowledge. Included are identifying characteristics, range, reproduction, nursery areas, growth, lifespan and relation to humans. In addition to the comprehensive text, the drawings of each species, its snout, and teeth are exquisite. The color illustrations are anatomically accurate and the colors are true-to-life. This book will serve as the standard reference on sharks for the twenty-first century and is certain to become a primary source of information for anyone interested in sharks. BUY HERE: The Sharks of North America |
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Seasick, Ocean Change and the Extinction of Life on Earth by Alanna Mitchel “As I read Seasick, I thought of biologist writer Rachel Carson. . . If climate change had been recognized when Carson was writing about the ocean, she would have written a book like Seasick” Brian Harvey, Canadian Geographic. “The energetic author rides catamarans and snorkels around the world to explain the threats to corals and turtles, and why we all rely on plankton. She journeys to the Gulf of Mexico to see a thing called ‘the blob’ (a big body of low oxygen water, or ‘dead zone’), stops off in China and Zanzibar, and even ends up climbing the Pyrenees. The resounding lesson, by the end, is that man has been unwittingly beome part of the marine habitat, and our behavior has to change.” - Steven Poole, The Guardian. 161 pages, $25 (less if used) at Amazon.com |
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My Sunset Rendezvous, Crisis in Tahiti by Ila France Porcher Porcher is an engaging writer! Her book takes you through her years of studying the local reef sharks in Polynesia. Porcher made intriguing discoveries about shark cognition; she and a colleague, Dr. Arthur A. Myrberg, Jr., found evidence that sharks can reason and the degree to which they are social animals. When a company from Singapore began finning the sharks in August 2003, Porcher witnessed the devastating results and sought to protect the sharks from this cruel practice. Through the hard work and determination of many wildlife advocates, the sharks finally found protection in 2006. She also describes her experience with BBC who filmed her work, and the film’s subsequent purchase and “re-editing” by Discovery Channel to remove its science and conservation messages. 630 pages. $29.90 and less at Amazon.com. Oxford University Press is offering a 350 page Conservation Biology textbook freely available to all. Download the book at: http://www.mongabay.com/conservation-biology-for-all.html |
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Shark Handbook by Dr. Gregory Skomal with photographs by Nick Caloyianis. In this comprehensive and colorful handbook, shark expert Greg Skomal takes readers on a tour of the world’s sharks — what they are, how they evolved, and how they exist the marine environment. He provides information on shark anatomy, adaptation, and conservation 278 pages. $14.95 (less of used) atvailable from Amazon.com. The Shark Handbook: The Essential Guide for Understanding the Sharks of the World |
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Spirit Deep by Thomas J. Waite Marine fantasy: Nautical archaeologist Sam Johnson finds an intact sunken Spanish galleon protected by a ghost white shark and adventures follow. A good summer beach read. $13.69 at Amazon.com. $2.99 for the Kindle edition. |
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Man and Shark by Paul Hilton & Alex Hofford. This powerful book shows the evil and brutality of the shark trade. It bears witness to the butchery of sharks in places as diverse as Mozambique, Yemen and Sri Lanka. But Hofford reports that he had seen nothing until he went to Japan. "Then I walked into this warehouse and saw 75 tonnes of blue shark laid out across the dock at 8:30 in the morning, with workers silently moving among them, cutting off their fins." The tableau is the same every morning, except on Sundays, when the market is closed. Hilton calls it "shark genocide". "At the rate sharks are declining, they could all be wiped out in 10 to 15 years," says Hofford. Tiger, bull and dusky sharks are particularly at risk, with shark populations down to just 5 percent of 1970s levels.. The reason for this decline? A lust for shark-fin soup. Use this book to inform others about the sharkfin trade! $35, at Amazon.com |
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World Ocean Census: A Global Survey of Marine Life by Darlene Trew Crist, Gail Scowcroft, James M. Harding Jr., and Sylvia Earle. This is the only officially sanctioned book to bring discoveries of the 10-year Census of Marine Life (2000-2010) to the general reader. Readers will learn how the mystery of new life forms are revealed, how CoML research was planned and executed, how animals are tagged and tracked, and about the cutting-edge technologies that enabled this mammoth endeavor. Hundreds of breathtaking, full-color photographs plunge one deep into the ocean to see some of the millions of species — from the smallest microbes to the largest whales — that dwell beneath the waves. $40, at Amazon.com. |
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Life in the World’s Oceans: Diversity, Distribution, and Abundance edited by Alasdair McIntyre. This landmark publication from the Census of Marine Life represents 10 years of research by 2,000 scientists from 80 nations, and is one of the most important marine science books ever published. Divided into four broad sections the title explores the oceans of the past, reveals the oceans of the present day and considers the oceans of the future. The final section explains how the vast amount of data was collated, integrated and utilized through the Ocean Biogeographic Information System. 384 pages. $199.99, at Amazon.com. |
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The World is Blue, How our Fate and the Oceans are One by Sylvia Earle. This book is a wake-up call for anyone who still doesn’t get that humanity is committing suicide by despoiling the oceans. $17.16 at Amazon.com. |
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Deep Blue Home by Julia Whitty Julia Whitty is an eloquent award-winning writer! She uses words to evoke stunning visual images, and cutting-edge science to give readers a look inside, and a deeper appreciation for, the ecological web that binds our vast oceans; their history and forces driving them, the lives and social dynamics of birds that travel them and the marine creatures that inhabit them. Order from Amazon.com via Shark Shoppe on our website: $24 hardcover Be sure to also read A Tortoise for the Queen of Tonga (short stories) and The Fragile Edge. All of Whitty’s books may be ordered from Amazon.com. |
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Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals by Jonathan Balcombe For centuries, humans believed we are the only ones that matter. Today, that is all changing. New scientific studies of animal behavior reveal perceptions, intelligence, awareness and social skills that would have deemed fantasy a generation ago. Second Nature's rich treatment of animal awareness, cognition, emotion, and perception provides the foundation for Balcome's powerful core argument — that we humans can do better, that we must do better, by the other inhabitants of Planet Earth. Available from Amazon.com at $27 hardcover, but also available ‘used’ and via Kindle. |
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Oceans: The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do to Turn the Tide edited by Jon Bowermaster This anthology is a companion volume to the acclaimed film, Oceans, that explores the splendor of the world’s seas and shows the strange and fascinating creatures that live in its depth. The book shows how we can change our lives to help keep the ocean both viable and healthy for years to come. 322 pages. Available from Amazon.com from $16.95. |
