Sharks Up Close

Jim Abernethy makes a living with his Scuba Adventures shark dives in the Bahamas by baiting and chumming sharks to get them up close to his diving clients. While some deplore his techniques (one of his tourist divers died from a shark bite in 2008), he has done an admirable job as a shark-saving advocate. Abernethy’s latest effort is Sharks Up Close, featuring his excellent photography and detailed data about sharks’ biology and their significance in the food chain.

Abernethy wants his book to be a staple of marine education programs in schools. The language is simple and there are sentences like “From their awesome rack of teeth to their fascinating behaviors, sharks are COOL!” but you may pick up a few shark facts you didn’t know before, like the purposes of the slits behind their eyes and the dots on their snouts. In addition, anyone will be impressed by the many up-close, face-to-snout photos Abernethy took of sharks on his Bahamas dives.

It may not be an addition to your own dive library, but buy it for that youngster you’re trying to get interested in scuba diving and ocean conservation. As Abernethy wrote in our review copy of his book, “As the saying goes, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ It is up to those of us who visit this underwater world to show the beauty of it as well as what is happening to it so we can all work together to protect it.”

Color photos are on each of the 81 pages. The hardcover version is $25, the paperback is $20. Click on the book cover posted on Undercurrent to buy via Amazon.com, and we’ll get a cut of the proceeds to continue our reef-protection efforts.