saw that nobody else had noticed any of it. They were all too close to the action, too focused on their own tasks. Cameramen were leaning over the transom, trying for close-ups; assistants held on to the cameramenâs belts to keep them from tumbling overboard; some crewmen were busy ladling more chum into the water; others could do nothing but stare, openmouthed, as a fish the size of a Buick went berserk behind the boat.
Wendy knew what would happen if the shark couldnât shake loose of the rope, and it became obvious that it couldnât.
She slid quickly down the ladder from the flying bridge, marched aft, shouldered aside one chummer and one idle gaper, and took hold of the rope a foot or two behind the cleat to which it was tied on the stern. She leaned over the stern, trying to see the head of the shark and locate the spot where the rope entered its mouth.
Just then the shark raised its head and lunged upward, and Wendy found herself nose-to-nose withâperhaps twenty-four inches away fromâthe most notorious, hideous, frightening face in nature. The snout was smeared with red. Bits of flesh clung to its jaws, and rivulets of blood drooled from the sides of its mouth. The upper jaw was down, in bite position, and gnashing as if trying to climb the rope. The eyes, as big as baseballs, were rolled backward in their socketsâgreat whites do not have nictitating membranesâand as the great body shook, it forced air through its gill slits, making a noise like a grunting pig.
All this Wendy recalled in meticulous detail. She also recalled shaking the rope and yelling at the shark, calling it a son of a bitch and other epithets she wasnât aware she knew, and demanding that it let go of the rope. The shark grunted at her and twisted its head, showing her one of its ghastly black eyeballs, and the rope sprang free.
The shark slid backward off the stern and away from the boat, and when it was fully in the water, it rolled onto its side and, like a fighter plane peeling away from a formation, soared down and away into the darkness.
Part II
7
Six Dangerous Sharks
Â
There are, I believe, half a dozen species of sharks that can, and sometimes do, pose a threat to human beings.
The Great White
First and most notorious is the great white, the shark portrayed in
Jaws
. The largest carnivorous fish in the sea, great whites can grow to more than eighteen feet long and can weigh more than four thousand pounds. They can and sometimes do eat people, though itâs now accepted that nearly every attack on a person is a mistake: the shark either confuses the person with a seal or sea lion or, particularly in murky water where it must rely on senses other than its eyes, takes a test bite to determine if this living thing is edible. There
have
been cases of great whites targeting humans, and few though they are, each case generates justified horror.
A few years ago a woman who had been scuba diving near a seal colony was taken from the waters off Tasmania. She had almost gotten to the boat and was reaching out to grab her husbandâs hand when an enormous great white attacked her from behind and below. While her shocked husband held on to his wifeâs hand, the shark bit her in half, then returned and took the upper half, literally yanking her torso from her husbandâs grasp.
Another notorious episodeâand one for which no shark expert, scientist, or diver Iâve spoken with has ever offered a credible explanationâoccurred back in 1909. A fifteen-foot-long female great white was caught off the town of Augusta, Sicily, and her belly was found to contain the remains of
three
human beings: two adults and a child.
More than 70 percent of great-white-shark-attack victims survive, because the shark realizes it has attacked in error and doesnât return to finish off the prey. Granted, that figure doesnât take into account swimmers, divers, and snorkelers who simply disappear
Wendy knew what would happen if the shark couldnât shake loose of the rope, and it became obvious that it couldnât.
She slid quickly down the ladder from the flying bridge, marched aft, shouldered aside one chummer and one idle gaper, and took hold of the rope a foot or two behind the cleat to which it was tied on the stern. She leaned over the stern, trying to see the head of the shark and locate the spot where the rope entered its mouth.
Just then the shark raised its head and lunged upward, and Wendy found herself nose-to-nose withâperhaps twenty-four inches away fromâthe most notorious, hideous, frightening face in nature. The snout was smeared with red. Bits of flesh clung to its jaws, and rivulets of blood drooled from the sides of its mouth. The upper jaw was down, in bite position, and gnashing as if trying to climb the rope. The eyes, as big as baseballs, were rolled backward in their socketsâgreat whites do not have nictitating membranesâand as the great body shook, it forced air through its gill slits, making a noise like a grunting pig.
All this Wendy recalled in meticulous detail. She also recalled shaking the rope and yelling at the shark, calling it a son of a bitch and other epithets she wasnât aware she knew, and demanding that it let go of the rope. The shark grunted at her and twisted its head, showing her one of its ghastly black eyeballs, and the rope sprang free.
The shark slid backward off the stern and away from the boat, and when it was fully in the water, it rolled onto its side and, like a fighter plane peeling away from a formation, soared down and away into the darkness.
Part II
7
Six Dangerous Sharks
Â
There are, I believe, half a dozen species of sharks that can, and sometimes do, pose a threat to human beings.
The Great White
First and most notorious is the great white, the shark portrayed in
Jaws
. The largest carnivorous fish in the sea, great whites can grow to more than eighteen feet long and can weigh more than four thousand pounds. They can and sometimes do eat people, though itâs now accepted that nearly every attack on a person is a mistake: the shark either confuses the person with a seal or sea lion or, particularly in murky water where it must rely on senses other than its eyes, takes a test bite to determine if this living thing is edible. There
have
been cases of great whites targeting humans, and few though they are, each case generates justified horror.
A few years ago a woman who had been scuba diving near a seal colony was taken from the waters off Tasmania. She had almost gotten to the boat and was reaching out to grab her husbandâs hand when an enormous great white attacked her from behind and below. While her shocked husband held on to his wifeâs hand, the shark bit her in half, then returned and took the upper half, literally yanking her torso from her husbandâs grasp.
Another notorious episodeâand one for which no shark expert, scientist, or diver Iâve spoken with has ever offered a credible explanationâoccurred back in 1909. A fifteen-foot-long female great white was caught off the town of Augusta, Sicily, and her belly was found to contain the remains of
three
human beings: two adults and a child.
More than 70 percent of great-white-shark-attack victims survive, because the shark realizes it has attacked in error and doesnât return to finish off the prey. Granted, that figure doesnât take into account swimmers, divers, and snorkelers who simply disappear
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