The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist ... (ISBN 0743241703)

Amazon.com Review:
Like many an earnest marine biologist before him, A. Peter Klimley wants you to see sharks as more than dumb predators. But what makes The Secret Life of Sharks unique is that Klimley has spent his entire adult life in close contact with sharks and offers an autobiographical peek into the lives of these fearsome fish. "I remember once placing my hand on the back of a large white shark as it moved like a locomotive alongside of my boat. Its body was warm... " Klimley recalls, evoking both shudders and fascination from readers who might sooner stick their hand in a campfire. This hippie-turned-professor regales readers with adventurous tales, the stuff of Shark Week legend, as well as more prosaic narrative--his progression through grad school, failed experiments, and calls for shark conservation. Klimley succeeds in helping readers understand shark behavior by comparing them to more familiar animals. He provides his own conclusions about what sharks' body movements might convey, their interactions with prey and each other, and why their attacks on humans might be the result of simple misunderstanding. --Therese Littleton

Not what the title suggests...:
I was really disappointed by this book. By the title, I expected it to cover shark behavior. Unfortunately, it was mainly a biography of the author with very little about shark behavior. This is not a criticism of the author, a respected expert on sharks, but if you want to learn about shark behavior, I suggest checking this book out in the store before buying it or you may be disappointed. I sent mine back for a refund.

The truth is right here!:
Did everything you know about sharks come from watching JAWS? Do you think that there is a real truth out there beyond the hype on the silver screen? If you want to find out what sharks are REALLY like, A. Peter Klimley's THE SECRET LIFE OF SHARKS will explain the mysteries of shark behavior, and you might find that what sharks actually do is much more amazing than anything that has been seen in the movies! As a professional biologist, college instructor, and life-long shark aficionado, I was about to embark on a late July "dream" trip to South Africa to participate in a white shark research project. I read this book hoping to get a bit of insight into the animal that I was going half-way around the world to study, and THE SECRET LIFE OF SHARKS provided that and a great deal more. Dr. Klimley effectively blends hard science and a spirit of adventure into an exciting and informative story about his 30 years of studying sharks. He describes the amazing ability of hammerheads to navigate through the featureless oceans using the earth's magnetic fields, explains how huge white sharks avoid "tooth to tooth" combat with each other by communicating with thundering tail slaps, offers reasonable and reassuring explanations for shark attacks on humans, and much more. He dispels the outdated myth that sharks are mindless killing machines, and presents them as evolutionary perfection with special senses, complex social behaviors, and unique physiological adaptations to the sea. By diving with sharks, observing them from land and sea, and even dressing up as a killer whale to swim with them, he has developed an understanding and appreciation of these amazing fish, and provides compelling reasons for their conservation. Enjoy this book and you, too, will hopefully become a champion for these fascinating and endangered animals.

Strangely enlightened, disappointed, and angered all at once by this book.....:
I bought this book because I love to read and I adore the shark in general. Its population dwindling, due to both cuisine and greed sadden me beyond belief. I thought that this book would enlighten me to the facts that aren't often discussed, yes, during "shark week". I was right. I was also bored out of my mind reading the book. Dr. Klimley loves his job. He also loves the noun-verb-noun and noun-linking adjective sentence. I found myself struggling after the third page not with the intellectual content, mind you, but with the banal sing-song of his writing technique. Paragraph after paragraph of noun-verb-noun sentences shyly punctuated with an occasional compound-complex sentence (methinks thrown in by the publisher) rattled in my brain like tumbling dominoes, until all of the wonderful information that I was trying to ingest fell out of my ears. Sigh. To his credit, he's incredibly intelligent, devoted, and quite in love with his job. I applaud all of this. However, he's also somewhat, uncomfortable for me to state, a bit of a traitor to the animals of the sea. He thanks Sea World, of all places, for help with his research. Sea World has been responsible for more cetacean deaths than I can remember reading about. I think that 33% of the dolphins, orcas, belugas, etcetera, die way before their appropriate expiration date at Sea Worlds nationwide, often due to boredom and extremely small habitats. No one in the profession of marine biology should ever thank a Sea World. They are interested in the Great White shark, I am convinced, as a money maker, should they ever succeed in capturing one and managing to keep it alive in captivity. In the meantime, the ones that die in the quest for the perfect man-made habitat will be as quietly disposed as the numerous ailing "Shamu"s that we are not aware of. I would have enjoyed this book to absolute death had Dr. Klimley allowed someone else to write it for him and had he thought about dis-connecting himself with a mega-corporation that has been responsible for exactly what every marine biologist should hate with fervor, the exploitation of animals for profit at no consideration to their safety or livelyhood. All in all, I give it a thumbs mostly down.

'The Shark Expert':
Dr Peter Klimley is i would say the formost expert in sharks, the information he gives in his book is based on his life experiences with them. His life has been shark i do not know of anyone that has more experience or can express himself so well in print Steve Fox owner of Deep Blue Divers 'Whale Shark Experts in the Caribbean www.DeepBlueUtila.com

Sharks behaviour presented as no one else can!:
"The Secret Life of Sharks" is a wonderful novel designed to demonstrate the true nature of sharks through the personal experience/insight of a man who knows sharks on a level well beyond even the most avid shark enthusiast. Klimley provides historical context to his career in shark behaviour and his motivations for pursuing the directions he choose to pursue right from his very beginnings as a grad student. For those that know his work, this book reveals the personal thoughts and stories behind Klimley's research seen in the primary literature. For those new to this world of shark behaviour, this book is a great introduction to sharks and their inner workings presented in a way that is not only informative and knowledgeable to read, but is also so entertaining and enthralling as one does not want to put the book down. Presented here is a book that puts a true face to shark behaviour and offers an honest look into the most misunderstood and usually misrepresented animals of our time. Follow Klimley into the realm of the hammerhead and great white and see that there really is much more to sharks than just shark teeth and JAWS.