Twenty metres below water, the oceanographer François Sarano came face to face with a five-and-a-half metre great white shark. Seduced by the gentle elegance of this majestic creature, Sarano experienced a profound sense of affinity with her as they swam side by side, shoulder to shoulder, eye to eye, cutting a single figure through the ocean depths. It was an experience which made him realize the depth of our ignorance of the lives of sharks, leading him to become a passionate advocate for their protection.

Drawing on the latest scientific research on the biology and ethology of sharks and their exceptional characteristics, this book aims to break through the barrier of prejudice and to pay homage to their true nature. Representing a last vestige of wildness, their populations are nevertheless under threat like so many species, they have been hunted and exploited by humans. Sarano argues for a change of mindset in which we lose ourselves in the world of the other, so that each living entity, human and non-human, can take their rightful place in the broader global ecosystem.

François Sarano is an oceanographer, professional diver and former expedition leader of the Calypso, the research ship of Jacques Cousteau. He is research director of the Deep Ocean Odyssey program and co-founder of the Longitude 181 association, which is dedicated to understanding and protecting the oceans. He has written and served as a consultant for numerous films and documentaries includingOceans.

Foreword by Sandra Bessudo

Introduction: Giving the Voiceless a Voice

1.    A Matter of Misunderstanding: From Pliny to Disney

2.    Shark? What Shark?

3.    Giving Life

4.    Inside the Sharks Head

5.    On the Road to Personality

6.    The Shark, Where it Belongs

7.    The Ocean is their Garden

8.    Fading Silhouettes

9.    The Confrontation

10.   Reconciliation

Notes

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Index